Mercy's Heart
by samcedeswannabe
Summary: One woman, Two Brothers, and a Choice
1. Chapter 1

Sam Evans walked into his office, purposely ignoring his assistant sitting at her desk in front of him. He walked over to the water dispenser and pulled down a paper cup from the holder.

"Good morning Mr. Evans," Rachel Berry said smiling cheerfully. He grunted as a reply. Sam hated mornings, and he hated cheerful people in the mornings even more. "You have some messages already," She said handing some papers to him. "Your client...," She looked on her computer screen, "Mr. Martins called. He said that he needs to talk to you before his court hearing on Wednesday." Sam rolled his eyes. Mr. Martins was an idiot and a petty thief. Sam absolutely despised him. He hated being a criminal defense lawyer for morons, but big businesses that got into a lot of trouble generally paid him well, so he stayed in the business.

"Coffee," He said finally speaking to her. He ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair and walked into his own private office and closed the door behind him. He sat down and looked through the messages that Rachel had given him. _Ugh, these people make me nauseous_ he thought with a look of disgust. _Theft, theft, domestic violence, robbery_ he threw the papers down and rubbed his eyes. Rachel lightly knocked on the door and came in with his coffee.

"Mr. Evans a young woman called," She said quietly, she placed the coffee on his desk, "She said that she's being charged for theft, but that she was stealing food for her children," Sam looked up into her solemn face.

"And that's my problem why?" he asked her, "If she doesn't have money for food, how the hell is she going to pay me to defend her?" He sipped his coffee and looked at the woman before him as if she was stupid.

"But sir," Rachel stared at him sceptically, "She needs help and there's no one to take care of her kids," She paused, "I think you should do it." Sam stared at her and Rachel lowered her eyes in embarrassment. "I mean I just think it'd be a great help to her." Sam leaned back in his chair not uttering a word. Finally Rachel got the hint and left his office, quietly closing the door behind her. Sam was a small lawyer, but in a town like where he was, and with the success record that he had, he was in demand. He worked his way up from absolutely nothing. This was why he felt no remorse for people who committed criminal activities because they "needed it." If you need something, get off your ass and work hard for it. He slowly got up and walked to the door.

"Ms. Berry," Rachel stopped typing the emails she was supposed to send to his clients and looked at him, "As much as your kindness serves you well outside of this office," he paused to stand in front of her, "It won't do you any good in here," She lowered her eyes. "I do not pay you for your opinions," He leaned towards her, "I pay you to type, occasionally answer calls, and sometimes if you're not "too busy" make me a pot of coffee." She looked up at him, "Do I make myself clear?" Rachel slowly nodded. He walked back towards his office, he stopped and spoke over his shoulder, "We're in a recession Ms. Berry," He paused and continued to walk into his office, "A lot of people are looking for jobs, especially administrative assistant jobs." With that last sting he closed his door and sat down. He didn't think she would try stepping on his toes again in the near future.

After making some calls and meeting with a few potential clients, Sam received a call from his girlfriend Quinn. "Hey sunshine," He said smiling into the phone, "How's my girl?" He could hear her giggling on the other line.

"I'm good snuggle bear," She paused, "Baby, I need a small favour," Sam's smile faltered, he knew where this was going. "I just need two hundred dollars for new shoes so that I can make a lasting impression on the people that I show houses to," Sam sighed, "Baby don't sigh you know how important this is to me," Sam rubbed his face. He understood that making an impression was always important especially when trying to sell a house. But he wasn't rich himself and this was the second time in three weeks that she had asked him for money. "I'll pay you back tonight snuggle bear," She said in a sultry voice. Sam's office phone began to ring.

"Quinn hold on for a second okay," He put her on hold and answered his other phone, "Yes Ms. Berry?"

"Sir, your brother Steve is here," he could hear a whisper, "He says he brought you lunch" Sam could tell that Rachel was smiling. He wasn't surprised considering that Stevie was a lot better with women, actually just people in general, compared to Sam.

"Yea, let him in" He said and hung up the phone. He took Quinn off hold. She didn't like being ignored for very long. "Hey sunshine," He said with false happiness. He watched as his younger brother who was a little bit taller, blonder, and had blue eyes instead of green like Sam's, sit down in front of him. "Sure if you need the money for your job," He paused, "That's perfectly fine." She squealed in delight on the other side, which caused Sam to move the phone away from his ear. Stevie made a face.

"Thank you baby I love you so much," She screamed into the phone, "How is your day going muffin?" Sam looked at his brother who was rolling his eyes. Stevie hated Quinn with every bone in his body. He had told Sam that she wasn't good enough for him and that she was using him for money. Sam knew that these things were true, but he really didn't give two fucks. She looked good on his arm with her platinum blonde hair and tight dresses, and that's all that really mattered to him. Sam gave his brother a warning glance, to which the younger man smiled. Sam was about to answer her when she cut him off, "Oh no baby, I have to go," She said speaking in a hurry, "But I'll see you tonight and thank you in person, Bye." Sam barely had time to say bye before she hung up. He put his cell phone down and looked at his brother.

"You're not eating enough Stevie," He said reaching for the sandwich Stevie was handing him, "Do I have to find a personal chef for you, so that you'll eat?" Sam worried a lot about his little brother, well they were only two years apart, but Sam considered him little. "Because I'll do it if I have to."

Stevie laughed, "No Sam," He paused and took a bite of his sandwich, "I'm not Quinn. I have no intent of bleeding you dry of your hard earned money." Sam laughed because it was so true. "I seriously think you should drop her," He looked seriously at Sam, "You can do better than her Sam." He lowered his voice, "like take that Rachel girl," He wiggled his eyebrows at his older brother, "She's beautiful AND nice." Sam rolled his eyes. You'd have to pay him big money to consider dating a brown noser like Rachel. Her plaid skirts and tacky sweaters were sometimes too much to look at every day. As if reading his thoughts Stevie laughed. "I'll take that wonderful grimace as a maybe."

"If I ever end up with someone who smiles that much and is that cheery," He took a sip of coffee, "Shoot me." Stevie smiled and shook his head.

"If you end up with someone like that, I'd commit her," He smiled, "She'd have to be insane to date an asshole like you," Sam smiled. He had taught his younger brother well. "Oh wow Sam I forgot to tell you," Stevie beamed, "I delivered five cute puppies this morning," he took another bite of his sandwich, "They were fucking adorable." Sam knew Stevie had mentioned it because he knew Sam hated animals. "You should come by and see them," He winked at Sam.

"Not if my life depended on it," He sighed, "Why couldn't you become a REAL doctor," Sam looked sadly at Stevie who was now giving him side eye, "Didn't I raise you well enough?" He started laughing.

"Sam," His brother said standing up to playfully punch him, "You are such an ass." He looked a little serious, "You know I love these animals and I don't know why you always make fun of me for being a vet" He picked up his and Sam's garbage.

Sam laughed harder, "Oh come on Stevie," Sam stood up and pat his brother on the shoulder, "You know I hate your job," Stevie glared at him, "But I'm happy that you at least HAVE a job." Stevie smiled a small smile. Sam knew that Stevie loved his job. But he felt with all of the potential that the younger man had, he could have been anything he wanted to be. He had raised him to always aspire to be something better.

"Yea, yea," Stevie laughed while throwing the garbage away, "I still hate you," He smiled. "Alright big bro, I must be heading back to the hospital" He said while putting on his coat. _Hospital, I think you mean petting zoo_ Sam thought to himself. He walked his brother to the door.

"Now don't do anything stupid today Stevie," Stevie grinned, "I'm serious," Sam actually looked concerned, "You almost crashed on your motorcycle before." He had been scared out of his life when he heard Stevie had an accident, but had not sustained any injuries other than a mild concussion.

"I promise, I'll be fine," He said placing a reassuring hand on Sam's shoulder.

"What?" Sam looked confused, "I meant take care of the bike, I don't care about you." Sam scoffed and then smiled.

"Oh, I see you got jokes old man," Stevie flipped Sam the bird, "hahahaah, Fuck you" The two brothers smiled at each other. Rachel stared at the interaction between them and smiled at Stevie. He looked over at her and smiled back, "Have a beautiful day Rachel," He said while walking to the door. Rachel began to blush and quickly waved.

"Bye Steve," She said giggling. Sam rolled his eyes and walked back into his office.

Before he left for the night, Sam made sure to pack up all of his important files on his desk. He never knew who could break in and steal all of his files. This was why he made Rachel save everything to his USB key. He heard a knock on the door, but he knew who it was before she came in.

"Hello, Mr. Evans." An older heavier set black woman from the maintenance staff said as she came in, "How has your night been," She said smiling kindly. Sam kept his eyes on his reports to make sure he had everything that he needed.

"It's been good thanks," He said looking up, "And yours?" She smiled at him.

"I can't complain," She walked in with her cleaning supplies cart and vacuum, "I hope you don't mind if I start." Sam had seen the woman every night since he had rented out his office in the building, and she had been always polite to him, even though he was initially offstandish towards her. He had no problems with her personally, but he just wasn't friendly to people he didn't know. But after everything he apologised to her and now she would often leave him chocolates in his desk.

"No, no go ahead," He closed his suitcase, "thanks for the treat." she smiled at him and nodded. Sam noticed that she never said you're welcome. He didn't mind but he always felt bad for taking the chocolates from her. He respected her because she didn't have much, but she still worked damn hard, unlike the idiots he often represented. He walked out of the office, thinking about the unusual pattern he had established between himself and the maintenance lady.

He walked to his car and fished the keys out of his pocket. He got in and threw his suitcase on the back seat and drove off. _Quinn better show up tonight butt ass naked, _he smiled to himself. He hadn't gotten some in weeks and she said she would pay him back. Sam had all intentions of getting his rewards. He pulled up to a stop light and checked his hair in the mirror. He heard a honk behind him and looked to see that the light had turned green. He drove forward when he saw a light coming quickly towards him from his left. Sam quickly turned his head in the direction of the car coming at him and tried to brake. _Oh shit..._


	2. Chapter 2

"YOU FUCKING BROKE MY HEAD LIGHT!" Sam yelled at the teenager who had T-boned his car. The kid looked like he was about to cry, but Sam really gave no fucks. "You're going to pay every last fucking cent to fix this!," Sam said walking closer to the teen, "I'm going to sue you until your grand kids are paying my GREAT GRANDKIDS!" Sam yelled.

"Hold on now," the officer who had arrived at the scene stood in front of Sam, who would have knocked the kid out if he had a chance. Sam glared at the boy, who was now crying, over the officers shoulder. "The kid didn't mean it," He looked Sam in the eye, "He was wrong, but come on, weren't you ever a kid?" The officer grinned trying to calm Sam down.

"No," Sam replied seriously, "I never got to be a kid," The officer gave Sam a weird look. Sam looked back at the teen who was slightly hyperventilating. Sam rolled his eyes, "Call this kid a fucking medic already before I have no one to sue." He said gesturing to the teenager. The police officer walked over to the kid and told him to calm down and that he was going to call his parents.

"WHAT?" the teen screamed, "YOU CAN'T CALL THEM," He covered his face and spoke in a lower voice, "they're going to kill me." Sam felt a small tinge of sympathy, but it was quickly erased as he picked his head light off the ground. Sam inwardly screamed, he was not in the mood for this shit. "Please," the teen was speaking to Sam's back. "Please I'll ...I'll get a job, I'll fix it," The kid sniffed, "I just got my full license yesterday, and I was going to pick up a girl, and my phone fell and I bent to pick it up..." Sam assumed that the officer handed the teen a tissue because he heard him blow his nose. Sam slowly turned around.

Just seeing the officer coddle the kid made Sam more angry, "No," he spoke in a creepy even tone, "We're going to call your parents, and I'm going to yell at your mother for not swallowing you when she had the chance," The officers jaw dropped, "Then I'm going to sue your driving instructor for thinking you were competent enough to PASS." Sam crossed his arms over his chest.

Finally finding his voice the officer said, "Now that's enough!" He turned back to the teenager, "Sorry but your parents will be called since they are the owners of this car and the insurance." He lightly pat him on the shoulder and shook his head in disapproval at Sam. _Don't you fucking shake your head at me_ Sam rolled his eyes, _I didn't total HIS car._ The officer spoke into the radio and Sam could pick out the words "tow truck." "Alright now," the officer adjusted his pants over his belly fat, "I have two tow trucks on their way," he looked at the teenager who was still quietly crying. _Suck it up big baby_. "the dispatcher called your parents, they should hopefully be on their way," then he looked at Sam and spoke more harshly, "You'll have to cab it home." Sam could feel his face getting more and more red. He was fuming but he knew the law well enough to know that you can't punch an officer and get away with it that easily. Sam turned around and pulled his briefcase, important papers, and his cell out of his car and called the taxi company. He saw that he had two missed calls from Quinn, but he was too agitated to talk to her at the moment.

After half an hour of waiting and watching the kid's parents show up and hug him and fret over him to make sure he was okay. Then having to deal with the mother looking at Sam as if HE had hit HER CHILD and the father approaching Sam trying to make awkward jokes and apologizing. The taxi finally came. Sam was exhausted, but he really needed a warm body in his bed that night to distract him from what had happened. Once he got home, he finally dialed Quinn.

"Mhm," Sam raised his eyebrow. Did she really just answer the phone with a _Mhm_? "What do you want Sam?" Sam tried to calm his nerves before he snapped like a twig on a breezy day.

"Hi baby," Sam said with sarcasm, "I'm great how are you?"

"I'm not in the mood Sam," She said annoyed, "we'll talk tomorrow okay?" Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not want to get all _Ike_ up in her _Tina_.

"I thought you were coming over tonight Quinn..." Sam tried not to sound desperate, "I need you right now" _Fuck he sounded desperate. _He could hear her sigh.

"I came and you weren't there so I went _home_" Sam knew that she didn't think he had caught the way she had said "home," but he had heard the hesitation. "I have to go," She said in a huff, "Bye" with that Sam heard the click. _Quinn is like a damn condom, _He thought angrily, _She spends more time in my wallet, than on my dick. _He slowly put the phone down and rubbed his neck. The impact had hurt him more than he cared to admit. He looked at the phone again and began to seethe, _Well fuck you too Quinn_, he shook his head, _I should call Stevie and let him know what happened. _Sam picked up the phone_, he'd just worry_. He put the phone back down and laid on his bed. _Everyone better stay out of my way tomorrow_, he closed his eyes, _or there's going to be a problem_.

The next morning Sam woke up feeling like complete and utter crap. He stood in front of his closet for what seemed like hours trying to figure out what the hell he wanted to wear. _I should just go to work naked_, he grinned,_ Rachel would have a heart attack, good._ He finally pulled out a nice grey suit, laid it on his bed, and jumped in the shower. He rubbed his neck, trying to massage the muscles there, but he realised that he might need to see a doctor. _Shit! _He leaned his head against the cold tiles, _I don't have time for this_. He slowly closed his eyes, massaged the shampoo in his hair, and he tried to think of Quinn. He pictured her blonde hair, her smile, her devil horns, his eyes flew open. _Damn even my subconscious knows the truth about her_, He sighed. He finished washing his body and stepped out of the shower. He looked in the mirror. _God I'm getting old_ he said rubbing his face, _I need to shave._

He walked into his room and looked at the time and realised his shower had taken longer than normal, he was going to be late. He threw off his towel, looked for a pair of black briefs. He looked over at the calendar, _Fuck! I forgot to do laundry yesterday_ He rubbed his face, _commando it is then. _He threw on his suit, grabbed his briefcase, and ran down the stairs almost tripping. He ran to the kitchen and looked for some food, _You know you get groceries while you wait for the laundry,_ Sam closed his eyes_, double fuck_. He decided to ignore the gurgle in his stomach and ran to his ca-. Sam threw his briefcase down, raked his hand through his hair, and bit his lip. _Calm down Sam_, he said closing his eyes, _calm down_. He pulled out his cell phone and tried calling Stevie, "Hey, you've reached Steve Evans, I'm not free at the moment but if you could leave your name, num—" Sam hung up the phone and quickly dialed a cab.

When he finally reached work he was fuming. He threw the office door open and walked straight past Rachel who sat at her desk staring at him with her mouth open. He slammed his door shut and turned his computer on. He reached into his suitcase for his USB key. He couldn't find it. "RACHEL!" he roared. Rachel quickly ran into the room. He could see that she was startled by the fact he hadn't called her Ms. Berry and also by the fact that he looked like crap and had yelled her name.

"Yes Mr. Evans?" She said in a small, almost inaudible voice. Sam clenched his jaw as he stared at her tacky knitted sweater. He had to close his eyes, the pattern was making him nauseous.

"I need your USB key," He said, his voice shaking from the nerves. He could quickly hear her turn around and walk out of the office. He outstretched his hand and felt a small cold item land in it. "That's all." He said to her as a dismissal. Rachel didn't move. Sam opened his eyes and looked into her worried face.

"Are you okay Mr. Evans?" She said shifting her feet. Sam stared at her and then rolled his eyes and looked back at the screen. "I mean you don't look too good and you were late." _Thank you captain obvious_, Sam rubbed his neck, _please stop talking and leave me alone_.

"I'm peachy" He said through gritted teeth, "Now get out" He growled in a lower voice. Rachel still stood there, and Sam sighed. _Seriously? Of all fucking days for her to be extra annoying._ "Ms. Berry I AM FINE NOW LEAVE MY OFFICE NOW!" Rachel jumped at his raised voice and ran out of his office, slamming the door behind her. That was it, Sam had had enough. He quickly got out of his chair and flung his door open. It hit the wall behind it with a loud smack, "DON'T YOU EVER SLAM THIS DOOR AGAIN!" he yelled at the shaking Rachel. She started crying and quickly got up and grabbed her purse and coat. Sam's jaw dropped. "Wait" he said walking towards her, "what are you doing?" Rachel walked to the door and slowly turned around.

"I'm taking a sick day," She looked nervously around him, "I don't feel good in this environment." She gestured with her free hand to the office. "You...you have a meeting today with the judge at one." With that she opened the door and walked out. Sam stood staring after her feeling like an ass. _WHATEVER, _he turned back around and walked into his office. He put the USB into his computer and sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. All of the files on her USB were password protected. He remembered he had told her to do it before. But now Sam regretted ever uttering the words in the first place. He shut down the computer and thought back to where his USB key could have fallen. He remembered throwing his briefcase on to the back seat, he took it out after the accident, he took the USB key out of the suitcase to upload some files to his laptop at home. _It's in the laptop_, well at least he knew where it was now. Sam was exhausted. It wasn't even twelve yet and Sam wanted the day over.

Sam came back from court and threw his briefcase in the corner. He sat down on his chair and pulled a bottle of water out of his mini fridge. _Why couldn't you be vodka_ he thought while drinking back the cold liquid. Court had been the icing on the pile of shit that his day had already been. His client didn't show up, he looked like crap, the judge was an older woman who he had pissed off by not accepting her dinner date, she refused to hear his excuses, and a warrant was issued for his clients arrest. _Should have just slept with her_, he thought while staring at the bottle, _At least then I would have gotten sex_. He sighed and put the bottle down on his desk. Rachel's phone began to ring on her desk and Sam got up and walked to it briskly.

"Evans office" He answered in a gruff voice. He prayed that it wasn't another lawyer, especially a big time lawyer. He heard a surprised gasp on the other line.

"Sam?" He heard the familiar voice say, "Babe why are you answering the phone?" Oh, NOW he was babe to this trollop.

"Rachel's sick," he sighed and bit his lip, "What do you want Quinn?"

"I'm sorry about last night," She paused, "Can we meet for dinner tonight," Sam held his breath. He wanted to tell her off so badly. "I miss you Sam," _Damn. _Sam rubbed his neck.

"Yea, alright. Meet me at _Le Riley _at nine_," _Sam honestly just wanted his bed, but if she was going to grovel to him tonight, then that could lead to some fun. Quinn squealed. Sam rubbed his ear in annoyance.

"Perfect!" she giggled, "See you then handsome." Sam was never more grateful to hear a click in his life. He put the phone back down on its holder and walked back into his office. _Maybe things are starting to look up_, he thought as he sat down. His cell rang. Sam looked at the number _Overstreet's Repair Shop_. _What kind of name is Overstreet_, he thought snidely as he answered.

"Hello?" Sam answered.

"Ey, is there a Sam Evans there?" the person asked on the other line while popping his gum. Sam was terrified for his car.

"I'm Sam Evans"

"Okay, good," He heard the pop again and cringed, "yo car won't be fixed for a week, so you'll have to get a rental." _Great another damn thing to add to my list_, Sam sighed, thanked the man on the other line and hung up. Things started to look up and then crashed and burned just as quickly.

At the end of the day Sam had managed to get a rental car and set up two more clients. So he didn't consider the day a total loss but he was really on edge. He packed up his things and realised he couldn't find the rental car keys. He looked at the clock on his wall. _Damn its eight forty. _He began to panic as he looked around his desk. _Come on! Not right now!_ He heard the familiar knock on the door and the older maintenance women came in. He didn't even bother looking at her. Sam could feel himself slowly losing grip of the edge. He knew he was going to lose it.

"Hello Mr. Evans," She said as usual. _Please don't say it, Please don't._ "How has your night been?" Sam lost it.

Sam slowly looked up at the kind woman smiling before him. "IT'S BEEN A FUCKING MESS!" as much as he wanted to, he couldn't stop the floodgate that had finally been open. "I GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT, I WAS LATE FOR WORK, I BITCHED OUT MY SECRETARY, I FUCKED UP IN COURT, MY CAR IS IN THE GODDAMN SHOP, AND NOW I CAN'T FIND THE FUCKING RENTAL KEYS!" He shouted. "MY NIGHT HAS BEEN FUCKING GREAT!" He felt his heart pounding like mad in his chest and he saw the terrified look on the woman's face. Sam started feeling extremely bad over what had happened, but he didn't know what to say. The lady gave him a tight smile and quickly walked out of the room. Sam stood and just stared after her. He walked out after her. He knew he needed to apologise but by the time he got to the hallway, he saw the elevator door closed behind her. He put his hand in his coat pocket and touched something cold. Sam clenched his jaw as he pulled out the rental keys.

Sam knew he was late but he honestly didn't care. He walked into the restaurant and the hostess took him to Quinn. She looked up at him slightly annoyed and then took in his appearance. He threw her the car keys, a customary thing they did when they went out. She put it in her purse as she kept staring at him.

"What happened to you?" She said eyeing him, "You look like death." Sam just stared at her in her black dress and wondered how much he paid for her to buy it.

"I always love your kind greetings Quinn," He said sitting down, "I especially loved your mhm yesterday." He folded his arms over his chest and looked her in the eye. "It was what I needed to hear after a car accident." He made sure that every word dripped with sarcasm and venom.

Quinn's jaw dropped. "You were in a what?" Just then a waitress came by to order their drinks. She was shamelessly flirting with Sam, who had no energy to pay her any mind. But Quinn was shooting daggers at the woman's retreating back. She looked back at Sam and extended her hand out to him on the table. He looked at it and scoffed. Quinn quickly pulled her hand back. "Well, you never said anything so it's not my fault." She said mirroring his arms over the chest action. Sam cocked his head to the side.

"Oh I'm sorry," He said in harsh tone, he leaned forward "I should have mentioned it after you fucking hung up on me," he leaned back in his chair and looked anywhere but at her face. Quinn shook her head.

"I can't believe I wanted you to propose," She muttered under her breath. Sam stared at her and started laughing. He could see some of the other restaurant patrons turn to look at them. He couldn't care less.

"Marry _you_?" he had finally stopped laughing and placed his palms on the table, "Now why the fuck would I ever want to marry you?" he cocked his head to the side, "Seriously Quinn, why would I want to marry a selfish, self-centered, spoiled brat like you?" She wiped her eyes and avoided his gaze. "Trust me honey," He took a gulp of the water the waitress had brought for him, "I'd never do that." Quinn finally looked into his face as if she was in pain. She got up grabbed her purse and her coat. Something Sam had been seeing a lot of that day.

"You're a fucking bastard Sam Evans," She lowered her voice, "I hate you." She said and stormed out of the restaurant.

Sam didn't care if she left or not, but then he remembered she had his keys. His eyes widened, _You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME_. He rummaged in his wallet, threw down five dollars on the table and ran after Quinn. _Oh yes of course it's raining_, Sam thought as his hair got drenched. He looked around and saw her standing at the cross walk and ran towards her. She started walking and Sam picked up his pace, yelling her name as he ran. He started running across the street not noticing that the red hand had stopped blinking and not seeing the red light turn green. The young teacher in the SUV changing the channels on the radio station did not notice Sam run in front of his car, but saw the glow of the green and accelerated.

Sam felt the impact hit his legs and he felt himself fly on top of the hood of the car. He slowly slid off and landed on the road. He could taste the blood in his mouth and he could feel the rain hit him like daggers over his broken body. His left leg felt like it was on fire and at the moment Sam wouldn't be surprised if it was. He couldn't breathe. He felt like there were fifty pound weights on his chest. He couldn't move his body but he could see the feet of people standing around him. He could hear Quinn's faint screams of his name. Everyone sounded like they were under water. Sam's eyes started to close. _Shit_, he blinked, _who's going to take care of Stevie?_ was Sam's last thought as he slipped into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

Stevie sat in the rickety chair next to Sam's hospital bed and stared at his older brother. Sam had a bandage wrapped around his head, an oxygen tube down his throat, his leg was propped up in a harness, and even though Stevie couldn't see the cast around his chest, he knew it was there. He had never seen his brother in such a bad condition before. He could remember when he had broken his arm during football practice, when he was 15, and how Sam stayed with him the entire time. That situation pretty much summed up their brotherly relationship.

Sam was always there to watch over Stevie no matter what. Sometimes he wondered if all brothers were like them, but figured that their circumstances were unique, so they were probably unique too. He looked around the room and his eyes landed on the two floral decorations by Sam's bedside. One had been brought by Rachel, who seemed nervous to even go into the room, even though Sam was unconscious. The other was brought by Quinn, who Stevie glared at the entire time. He knew Sam had been chasing after her when he had gotten hit and it made him angry. Stevie couldn't understand why Sam would want to hold on to someone like Quinn, who only cared about his money and nothing else. She had said that they had gotten into a fight and Sam was running after her to apologise when he had gotten hit. Stevie secretly hoped it could have been her instead. He sighed and looked at his brother again. _Don't die old man, _he closed his eyes, _you're all I've got. _

"Now how is Mr. Evans today?" A pretty nurse walked in looking over at Sam, "He has a bit more colour in his cheeks which is a good sign," She said optimistically as she looked at Stevie. Stevie offered her a weak smile and looked over at Sam.

"Yea," He said looking back at her, "They're a bit pinker today," She winked at him and checked Sam's vitals to make sure everything was alright. Stevie rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted. He figured that he had probably slept for three hours in the last seventy two hours he had been there with Sam. He was out with his friends at a pub down the street from his work place when he had received the call from Quinn. She was hyperventilating and he had trouble understanding what she was saying. Finally he made out Sam, car, hurt, hospital, and he yelled at her to calm down and tell him where. He had been there ever since.

The nurse walked over to Stevie and placed her hand lightly on his shoulder, "I think he'll be okay," He looked up at her to see her looking at Sam, "He looks like a fighter," She smiled down at Stevie. Stevie looked back at his brother. She didn't know the half of it. Sam was the strongest person he knew. When their parents died, Sam was always that rock for Stevie. People thought that Sam was just a jerk with not an inch of empathy for others. But Stevie knew better and as much as he called Sam an asshole, he knew Sam was the most caring guy he knew. As he thought about this he felt his eyes begin to water. _Suck it up Stevie_, he said to himself, _He'll be fine. _He wiped his tired eyes and looked up at the nurse.

"Yea, Sam's more stubborn than a bull," he chuckled lightly. The nurse gently rubbed his shoulder and told him she would be back in half of an hour to make sure everything was okay. Stevie got up and poured himself a glass of water from the small table in the corner. He sat back down and propped his feet up on the edge of Sam's bed. He ran his hand over his face, _ugh I can use a strong cup of coffee right about now_, he felt the stubble on his cheek, _and a shave._ He thought he saw movement in the corner of his eye and he looked over at Sam. He stared at him for a second and then went back to mindlessly staring at the opposite corner. He saw the movement again in his peripheral vision and sat up straight staring at his brother. "Sam?" He said quietly, he was fearful of disturbing the peacefulness in the room. Sam slightly moved again and Stevie stood up and ran into the hallway looking for a nurse. When he got out there he could hear Sam's monitors going crazy with high pitched beeping. Before he could even say anything two doctors were running in his direction. Stevie ran back into the room to see what was wrong with Sam. Sam looked like a fish out of water. His eyes were wide open and he looked terrified. The two doctors and some nurses ran into the room trying to calm Sam down. One of the nurses took Stevie by the arm and led him outside. He never took his eyes off of his big brother. He sat in the chair in front of the door for about ten minutes before the same nurse came out and patted him on the shoulder.

"He's okay now," She said with a smile, "you can go back in" She and the rest of the team walked away. Stevie got back up and slowly walked into the room and stared at his brother. He was scared he had died and he felt sick. Sam had his eyes open but he looked dazed.

"Old man?" Stevie said quietly while approaching the bed, "You okay?" Sam looked over at Stevie and smiled. He muttered something that Stevie couldn't pick up. Sam coughed and pointed to the water on the table. Stevie quickly moved and poured him some. Sam drank and his face scrunched up in pain.

"I feel like I was hit by a truck," He said hoarsely. Stevie laughed and wiped his face. He didn't realise he was crying. "I feel like shit."

"No bro, not a truck" he said taking the glass from Sam, "An SUV to be exact." Sam's eyes widened and then he closed his eyes and slightly nodded. Stevie figured that he remembered the accident. "You're lucky you're hurt," Sam opened one eye and looked at his brother, "I'd freaking kill you for chasing after QUINN, of all people, into traffic." Stevie sat down and glared at Sam. Sam closed his eyes again and then grinned.

"I was trying to get my car keys back from her," He began to chuckle but quickly realised that it was a bad idea. His face contorted in pain.

"Yea," Stevie sighed and scratched his head, "Well those keys got your leg pretty much shattered, two of your ribs broken, and a concussion." Stevie said pointedly to his brother who was falling asleep from the medication. "Sam you were unconscious for three days," Sam's eyes fluttered open and he looked at his brother, he nodded slightly again and then fell asleep. Stevie looked at his brother for a little longer to make sure he was okay and then he got up to ask a doctor about when he could be released. They told him that they had to monitor him for about four more days and then he could go home. Stevie went back to work while Sam finished up his time in the hospital. Four days later, he picked Sam up from the hospital in a taxi van because Sam was going to have to use a wheelchair for awhile and that was the biggest vehicle to move it around.

Stevie wheeled a silent, sullen Sam into Sam's house. Stevie looked at the stairs and inwardly cursed. _How the hell is this going to work?_ He sighed looking at Sam, who was in no position to offer any help. He saw the guest bedroom on the first floor and wheeled Sam into there. _Not bad_, he thought while looking around, _this will have to do._ Sam looked around too and sighed.

"Sam, what do you need from your room?" Stevie waited for a reply but Sam refused to answer. He had been quiet since he had picked him up. "Fine, I'll look around then." He walked up to the bedroom and found his toiletries, and grabbed some clothes. He couldn't find any of his brother's underwear and he was too creeped out to think about even washing his laundry. Stevie sat on Sam's bed and put his head in his hands. He was going to need help.

After a couple of days of helping Sam, Stevie realised that he couldn't be with him all the time. He needed to get back to work, so he decided to post an ad online looking for live in nurses. Sam had been a lot more responsive since the first day he had come back. Especially since he buried himself in work most of the time and hardly ate. Stevie looked over at his older brother hunched over in his wheel chair typing away on his laptop. Sam looked back at Stevie.

"What?" He said looking back at his computer.

"I can't be here all the time Sam," Stevie rubbed his face, "I'm going to post an ad for a live in nurse," Sam immediately looked back at his little brother. "I have to get back to work."

"You're going to post an ad?" Sam looked at him shocked, "On where?" he scoffed, "Craigslist?" Stevie's eyes widened and he looked back at his computer, trying to avoid Sam's stare. "What? Stevie you're going to hire a murderer," Sam said as he rolled over. He had been practicing at it and he was getting a lot better and stronger in his arms.

"No I won't," He rolled his eyes at the naïveté of his brother, "I'm going to interview them first." Sam looked at the ad over his shoulder, sighed and then rolled back to where he was previously positioned. "Don't worry old man," Stevie said with a grin, "I got this." He hoped he looked more confident than he felt.

Stevie decided to do some phone interviews before he met the applicants. But the calls he received were really weird.*

While he was driving his cell phone rang and he answered it. "Hello?"

"Ya, my name is Ilsa Immerman, and I want to know how many patients you have?" Stevie smiled realising it was a nurse calling to help Sam.

"Oh just one, just my brother" he replied.

"Oh a male, I don't work with the males because I used to be one." Stevie looked at the phone and told the person he would have to call them back and hung up. He shook his head. _Man there are some weirdos in the world._

Then that night he got a call from a woman. When he answered the phone all he heard was a scream.

"Layla get back in your cell, don't make me get the hose, hello?" Stevie quickly hung up the phone. _What the actual fuck was that?_ He rubbed his forehead. Later that night he was jolted out of his sleep by the ring of his cell phone. He sighed and reluctantly answered it.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"I . am. Job" the person on the other line stated.

"Do you speak English?" Stevie inquired.

"I. Am. Job" the same reply came again.

"I'm sorry the position has been filled" Stevie hung up the phone and vowed to remove his number from the ad as soon as he got up. Little did he know Sam was lying on his bed downstairs laughing his ass off, well as much as he could with his ribs. _That will teach him to hire a live in nurse_ Sam thought as he placed his cell phone back on the table.

Stevie moved on to in person interviews*, much to Sam's displeasure. The first person who came in was an older lady with a gray coat and a sad face.

"Well it's very nice to meet you" Stevie said beaming at the older woman. "Tell me about yourself?"

"I start at eight o clock and I would have already had my breakfast and I will assume that the patient has had his, at noon a brisk walk, followed by two hours of bible study, where is the man?" She said in a monotone voice. Stevie stared at the woman with his mouth open. He shook his head and told her that he didn't think that this was the right job for her and escorted her out. The next woman who came in was younger and Spanish.

"So tell me about yourself..." he looked down at her resume, "Ms. Lopez?" he smiled at the pretty woman in front of him.

"Well, I feel like Sofia Loraine in house boat, when she meets the widowed Carey Grant, and selflessly gives herself to his family" She then began to speak in Spanish and rub her chest. Stevie leaned back in his chair. _Oh my God._ He politely told her that he appreciated her coming by and escorted her to the door. When the next woman came in, Stevie had a bad feeling already. She was wearing a pink dress and a hat with a little veil on top. She was also carrying a large box with her.

He cleared his throat, "so tell me about yourself" he braced himself for the answer.

"I know what it's like to have someone close to your heart get hurt" she said as she pushed up her mini veil, Stevie relaxed a little "I understand," she paused, "Winnie and I, we both understand" She opened up the box and pulled out a large doll that was dressed just like her. She turned something on the dolls back and it said _I'm tired _Stevie just stared at the woman. The lady looked at the doll in annoyance and said, "and I'm not tired?" and then creepishly looked up at Stevie and smiled. Stevie's heart pounded in his chest, he was so terrified.

"Please just leave," He said after finally breathing. The woman picked up her doll and walked out the door in a huff. Stevie got up to quickly lock it when he saw a shorter, curvy black woman, with long wavy hair, wearing a bright floral dress, walk up the steps. She looked up at him in shock. Stevie's presence at the door had surprised her. _Wow, _he blushed looking her over.

"Oh," She blushed and extended her hand, "hi, I'm Mercedes Jones," She beamed a beautiful white smile. Stevie extended his hand and grinned back at her. _This, this is good_, He thought as the two shook hands.

*_these references are from Mrs. Doubtfire_

_*these references are from Corrina Corrina, if you haven't seen these movies, YOU NEED TO lol_


	4. Chapter 4

Mercedes nervously sat in front of the tall blonde man who had surprised her at the door. She had been fidgeting with her panty hose outside, when a woman all dressed in a bright pink Pepto-Bismol colour suddenly stormed by her carrying a doll. Mercedes was slightly confused. She had thought that the interviews were for a live in nurse, not some children's entertainer. Mercedes quickly contemplated making an escape, but she found herself on the stairs standing face to face with an extremely handsome man with blue twinkling eyes. They shook hands and he invited her inside. Mercedes quickly looked around the little house, taking in all of the furniture and pictures hanging up. She saw a lot of pictures of the same man and a lot of animals. _Oh Lord, I've entered the realm of a zoo keeper_.

"So..." he said looking at her, "Sorry I didn't introduce myself at the door." He smiled sheepishly at her. Mercedes decided that he had a nice smile. "I'm Steve Evans and I'm looking for a live in nurse for my brother." He smiled at her. Mercedes couldn't get over how big his lips were. She felt like she could use them as pillows if she really wanted to. "Do you have a resume?" he said leaning towards her. Mercedes fumbled in her purse, pulled out a folder, and handed it to him. She noticed her hands were shaking but she hoped he didn't see. She kept fidgeting with her dress. Mercedes was more comfortable wearing a pair of jeans and nice top, but her mother insisted that she should wear a dress. Mercedes had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at the memory.

"_Mercedes you need to wear a dress, it will make a better impression"_

"_Mom, it shouldn't matter what I'm wearing as long as I have the credentials,"_

"_Uh huh, in which world child?" her mother put her hand on her hip._

_Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'm a grown woman."_

_Her mother raised her eyebrow, "Mhm, a grown woman THAT I RAISED" she said pointing at her chest, "and I say you need to wear a dress" Mercedes looked at her mother and saw how old she had gotten. She looked so tired from all of the work she had to do for Mercedes and her sister._

_Mercedes sighed, "Fine, mom...fine" Her mother smiled triumphantly and made her way to Mercedes closet. Mercedes muttered, "I bet no other adults have their mother dress them." She slowly got up from her chair and followed her mom to the closet. Her mother looked over at her and held up a dress. Mercedes cringed, "Mom! I wore that to ' funeral" Her mother's eyes widened and she put the dress back._

"_Well it's not my fault you have nothing in here," her mother said facing the closet. "You need to buy more clothes Cattie" Mercedes smirked at the childhood nickname._

"_With what money mom?" Her mother rubbed her tired eyes, a habit she had when she was annoyed with her kids. Mercedes sighed, "If you had let me strip in college we'd be rolling in the dough" Her mother stared at her in shock, Mercedes laughed, "Oh my God mom," she put her hand on her shoulder, "You know I'm kidding"_

"_Oh I know," her mother said staring at her, "I loves you, God knows I do, But I'll kill you dead fo' I let you strip." Her mother started laughing._

"_Really mom?" Mercedes smiled, "a reference from the colour purple?"Her mom smiled and nodded. She pulled out a nice bright floral dress that Mercedes had bought a long time ago for a date that she had decided not to go on. Mercedes rolled her eyes and took the dress from her mom. "Fine, I'll wear it."_

"Wow," He flipped through her resume and written references. "This looks amazing." Mercedes muttered under her breath _you look amazing_. Steve looked up at her, "Sorry, what was that?" he raised his eyebrows. _Think fast Cedes, THINK FAST._

She cleared her throat, "I said thank you!" She smiled widely. Steve returned the smile and handed back her folder.

"No need to thank me," he rubbed his hands together, "you seem to have done a lot in regards to the medical field." He leaned back in his chair, "So Ms. Jones," Mercedes wasn't sure why, but the way he said her name reminded her of _Billy Paul's Me and Mrs Jones _and itbegan to play in her head. She just kept staring at his mouth, but Billy Paul's lyrics were coming out of his mouth.

_Meeeeeee andddddddd Mrs., Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones_. Steve began to wave in front of her, "Ms. Jones?" Mercedes snapped out of her Billy Paul daze and stared at Steve, "Are you okay?" he was giving her a worried look. _Great now he thinks you're crazy_, she tried to ignore the little voice in her head.

"Sorry," She blushed, "I'm fine, what did you say?" he still gave her a slightly puzzled look but shrugged. _Did I just blow this?_ Mercedes began to play with the ring on her finger. It was what she did when she was nervous, upset, or scared.

"Well, I just wanted you to tell me about yourself," He grinned, "I can see you look amazing on my paper but I want you to tell me."

"Well," She cleared her throat, "I'm twenty eight years old and I love to help people," She gave a sad smile. "My father got really sick when I was young and I saw how the nurses in the hospital tried their best to pay attention to him while he was in there," She paused and looked down, "But they were so busy, that he spent a lot of his time alone." She looked up, "Well when my mom, sister, and I couldn't be there for him." Steve nodded, so she kept going. "I wanted to be a nurse so that I could bring that comfort and joy to other people..." she smoothed down her dress, "but I want to be there for the patient all of the time, not just when I can," her voice grew stronger, "But every moment of their struggle I want to be there so that they never feel alone." Steve's eyes grew wide. Mercedes looked down, _Damn I spoke too much again_. She knew that she had a strong personality, but that was what she loved the most about herself. Unfortunately, Mercedes knew that not everyone shared her enthusiasm.

Steve smiled, "I love that," she looked up to see him looking at her in awe. He blushed and looked down. "I mean I understand how it feels to lose a parent," he looked her in the eye, "I lost both a long time ago, it's just me and Sam now."

Mercedes slowly nodded, "Sam?"

"Ya, Sam's my older brother," he smiled at her, "He's the one you'll be looking after and living with." He stood up and extended his hand, "Congratulations Ms. Jones." Mercedes sat for a whole two seconds in shock before she jumped up, ran around the table, and hugged Steve. "Woah!" he said in shock, Mercedes pulled back and smoothed down her dress. Steve smiled down at her. She extended her hand in embarassment. He took it firmly in his own, shook it, and held it for a moment. "Welcome to the family, Ms. Jones" Mercedes smiled up at the taller man. She knew her life was about to change.

"Mom!" Mercedes used her key to open the door to her mother's apartment, "Mom! Where are you?" Her mother ran out of the kitchen wearing her cleaning uniform.

"What Cattie?" her mother looked scared, "What's happened, is your sister okay?" she said while looking Mercedes over to see if she was wounded or something.

Mercedes smiled, "No mom everything is good!" She could see her mother start to visibly relax. She walked up to her and embraced her. "Mom I got it, I got the nursing job" the other short lady hugged her tighter.

"Mhm," her mother said over her shoulder, "I told you that the dress was a good idea," Mercedes rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Uh huh, don't push it" she said while letting her mother go, she looked her mother over, "You're starting work so early?" She hated that her mother still worked at her age. She wanted more than anything for her mother to relax, but her mother was not a person who liked to settle down. Even when she was home, she busied herself with something. Mercedes looked up to her mother, well not physically since they were both very short, but as a role model.

"Yea," her mother smiled sadly, "Didn't I tell you that I don't work the night shift anymore?," Mercedes saw a look of anger cross her mother's face. "I didn't feel comfortable doing it at night, so I switched with Carole." Mercedes wanted to probe further into what had happened, but her mother gave her a _don't push it _look.

"Oh how's Aunt Carole and Uncle Burt?" even though they weren't her real relatives, Mercedes had referred to them as her aunt and uncle since she was a kid. Their son Kurt had been her best friend growing up and he still was, but she just didn't see him as much since he moved. Her mother smiled.

"Same old," She raised her eyebrow, "They're still trying to deal with Finn's divorce to Rachel," her mother shook her head, "the boy gained 100 pounds and is trying out for _The Biggest loser_," Mercedes had to hold back a laugh, "I promised them that we would pray for them at church this Sunday." Mercedes thanked God that she hadn't ended up with Finn after the little fling they had the summer after graduation. He was a nice guy, but he was sometimes a little odd.

"Sounds good mom," She smiled, "So can you take care of Chewie while I'm living with the patient?" her mother sighed, "Please, you know he loves his grandma," her mom rolled her eyes and nodded. "I love you!, thanks I'll bring his stuff over tonight."

"When do you start?" her mother looked shocked by the fast pace of things.

Mercedes gave her mom a nervous smile, "I'm going to meet him tomorrow and then I'll move in the same night," She patted her mom on the shoulder, "Well if we get along and everything." Her mother looked worried. "I'll be okay, he's in a wheelchair." She shrugged, "the worst thing he can do is run me over." Her mother slowly nodded.

"Alright, well you keep me posted." She began walking away, but spoke over her shoulder, "There are some CRAZY people out there Cattie, trust me I recently met a psycho." Mercedes laughed. _Well let's just hope my patient's not the same way. _She smiled and followed her mother into the kitchen.

Mercedes double checked the address Steve had given her. She pulled up in the drive way behind a motorcycle, checked her appearance, and then walked up to the door. She hadn't eaten any breakfast because she felt like her stomach was in knots. She fixed her black top and pulled up her pants. She finally rang the doorbell and prayed for strength. Steve wearing a blue polo shirt and dark blue jeans opened the door. Mercedes almost gasped out loud, the man was stunning.

His face lit up, "Well hello there Ms. Jones," he smiled and moved back to let her in to the house, "I hope you found the place alright."

Mercedes smiled, "Call me Mercedes," he looked down at her and raised an eyebrow with a little smirk, "either that or Cedes," she laughed, "Mrs. Jones is my mother." Steve smiled.

"Alright I think I can do that Cedes," Mercedes felt a tingle go up her spine at the way he said her name. He led her into the living room of the house, "Just wait right here I'll go get Sam," he smirked and walked out. Mercedes looked around the room. It was pretty much empty, with a coffee table pushed over to the side, a flat screen tv, and a small side table. She picked up a picture of two little blonde boys holding hands on a beach. She stared at the older kid, she wasn't sure why but to her his eyes looked so sad. She could hear voices coming towards her so she stood up and faced the entranceway. Steve entered first, smiling at her and then his brother Sam rolled in behind him.

Mercedes eyes widened. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but the man she saw in front of her wasn't it. Steve looked a lot like his older brother, but Sam was broader in his upper body and his legs. His hair was a dirtier blonde compared to his brothers and he had a more determined face. She could see that he had a few faded bruises on his face and neck but she knew it was from the accident. The man was absolutely stunning, well he would have been had he not been scowling and slightly looking past her with his bright green eyes.

"Cedes," Steve finally spoke breaking Mercedes trance, "Sam" Sam only blinked as acknowledgement that his name had just been spoken. "Mercedes you can sit down, we'll just talk about what's going to happen." Steve walked over to sit next to her and Sam rolled in front of them.

"Steve, I want_ Le Riley_ tonight," Mercedes turned to look at Sam who had finally spoken. His voice was deep and sexy. _He's going to be your patient, stop that. _Steve rolled his eyes.

"Sam, you can't eat _Le Riley_," Sam looked angry. _Oh brother, he's like a child_, Steve turned to Mercedes, "Don't let him eat _Le Riley_, he's not supposed to." Mercedes simply nodded. She wasn't sure what the hell _Le Riley _was, but she wasn't going to tell them that.

Sam began to roll away, "I don't need a nurse," he stopped to pointedly look at Mercedes, "I'm capable of taking care of myself, I'm a god damn lawyer." With that he rolled out of the living room. Steve gave Mercedes an _I'm so sorry my brothers an asshole look._ Mercedes just reminded herself that she needed the money so she would suck it up.

Steve sighed, "I'm sorry, he's difficult with people he doesn't know," Mercedes tried to force a smile of confidence, "If you don't want to, you don't have to do this," he looked into her eyes.

Mercedes laughed, "Don't worry I've dealt with worse," She was lying through her teeth, but the smile on Steve's face showed her he believed it.

He looked down at a list in his hand, "Okay, so basically you'll be here to cook, buy some stuff for the house," he looked at her, "Of course you'll get money for all of that," he looked back down, "and just making sure that Speedy Gonzales over there" he gestured to where Sam had left, "Doesn't do anything completely stupid, like run into traffic." He gave her a tight smile. "Sound good?" Mercedes nodded.

She clapped her hands together, "alright then, let the games begin!" Steve smiled at her optimism. _Shit what have I gotten myself into?_


	5. Chapter 5

Mercedes packed up her last suitcase and looked around her apartment. She was nervous about leaving her life behind to live with the ever so kind Sam Evans. She rolled her eyes. When she saw him for the first time, she was taken aback by how attractive he was. But then he spoke and the whole facade of the matter crumbled. She had expected him to be like Steve considering that they were brothers, but he really came off as an ass. _Give him a chance Cedes, maybe he's not so bad_. Mercedes sighed and picked up her little dog Chewie. She kissed him on the head and held him close to her.

"I'm going to miss you Chew Chew," she said speaking into the dog's fur. Chewie's little ears perked up at her voice. This wasn't the first time Mercedes had moved in with a patient. She had done it at least eight times since she had become a nurse. But every time she did, she felt like a piece of her died. She always tried to put herself into her work even though at the end of the day she always become physically and emotionally exhausted. Sometimes the people she lived with were old and at the end of their days. Despite knowing this, she would invest all of her love and emotions into them. Many times before they died, they would tell her that they loved her, or that she was like a daughter, sister, or best friend to them. It killed her even more to know how much they cared for her in the end. She put Chewie down and walked around her little apartment. It was a ritual she did before she left for a long period of time. She checked the fire alarm, made sure the stove was off, unplugged most of her appliances, and made sure the balcony door was locked.

Her mind wandered to the last patient she had lived with. He was only in his thirties but he was suffering from stage IV colon cancer. His name was Mr. Matthew Lewis, he was divorced, had no kids, and worked at a nearby garage. He was an extremely kind man who had just been dealt a bad hand at life. He worked hard but had found that his absence from home isolated his wife from him and she had left with a younger man. Mercedes learned some of these things as she sat by his bed singing to him so that he would fall asleep. She had been singing a song from church in the kitchen while washing dishes one day and he had yelled for her to come to his room. She ran to him panicked that something was wrong. But he just sat in his bed crying, staring at her with wide eyes.

"_Was that you?" He stared at her. Mercedes slowly nodded. She was unsure about what was happening and had felt bad that her singing might have woken him up. He patted the side of her bed for her to sit down. She walked over to him never taking her eyes off of his face. He gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry Cedes, I didn't mean to scare you." She let out the breath she had been holding. "You have an amazing voice," he wiped away his tears, "I thought I had died for a moment and the angels were calling me home." Mercedes started to cry herself. She didn't want to acknowledge the fact that he was probably going to die. She looked at his bald head, pale skin, and tired eyes and she knew that it wouldn't be very long. He reached out and held her hand. "Mercedes, would you do me the honour of singing to me every night," he hesitantly stared at her and she bit her lip, "Please" he whispered. Mercedes reluctantly nodded her head and he pulled her into a hug. She loved to sing in church or when she was by herself because she felt like she was having a conversation with God. But the only person she had ever sung for was her deceased father and she didn't like the feeling that everyone she sang to would eventually die._

_So every night she would sing to him and hold his hand as he drifted to sleep. Sometimes she wouldn't even bother going to her own room and just slept on the chair in his room. It usually resulted in a slight neck pain in the morning but she was fine with that. One night she had gone to his room and she saw him standing by the window. He had gotten worse over the few weeks and the chemotherapy was no longer working for him. He slowly turned to her and extended his hand. She walked over to him and took it, he pulled her to his side and wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into his half embrace and inhaled the clean smell of his clothes._

"_Cedes?" he said quietly. She looked up at him but he was still staring out the window, "I love you." He whispered finally looking down at her. She felt like breaking out of his grasp and running as far away as she could. It wasn't because she was disgusted or scared, but she knew that she loved him too and it upset her. He leaned down and gave her a tender kiss. When she opened her eyes, for a split second she could see the man that he used to be. She walked him back to his bed and he laid down and closed his eyes._

"_I love you too," she finally replied. He gave her a small sad smile and held out his hand. She took it and began singing "His Eye is on the Sparrow." She sang as if her heart was breaking and she continued to sing once his hand had gone limp in her own. When she stopped she checked his breathing, got up and called the hospital. The ambulance came and took him away to the morgue. She stood at the door crying until they were gone. She could never explain to anyone, how she could have let herself fall in love with a dying man. She never wanted to feel that way again._

Mercedes wiped her eyes. She thought about Sam Evans and didn't foresee any of the same problems arising with him. He was mean and unkind, and that was what she had gathered from only meeting him for a few moments. He was nothing like Matt. She sighed and looked around. She walked back to her bedroom, picked up Chewie, grabbed her bags and headed out the door. _I'd never fall in love with Sam Evans._ She laughed at the thought. She locked her door, headed to the elevator, and prepared herself for her new life.

Mercedes opened the door with the key Steve had given her earlier and stepped inside the house. She peered around and noticed that it was quiet. Too quiet. She heard some footsteps on the top floor and immediately looked to Steve running down the stairs.

"Hey Cedes!" he said cheerfully looking her over. She was wearing black jeans and a bright pink top. She looked into his eyes and saw a slight blush creep up his neck. _Hmm, very interesting,_ She thought to herself as she walked towards him. He grabbed one of her bags from her and slung it over his shoulder.

"Are you ready to see what I did for you in the bedroom?" He smiled down at her. _Roses, candles, oil? _Mercedes hoped that the man couldn't read her thoughts, as he led her up the stairs. When she had gotten to the room and looked around, she noticed everything was purple. She smiled. He had asked her earlier what her favourite colour was and she immediately replied with purple. He must have gone shopping after she had left because there was a royal purple comforter and pillow cases on the bed. There were also purple curtains on the window. She gasped and then started giggling. He looked at her and smiled, "So what do you think?"

"I love it," she said beaming, "Thank you so much," she gave him a side hug because he was still holding her bag. He put it down and gave her a proper hug. Mercedes started to feel tingles in her legs. _Oh my God this man smells so good_.

He pulled away from her, but still held her arms, "No," he paused and smiled, "Thank you for doing this." She felt her face getting hot and she avoided his gaze out of embarrassment. "Well, I have to head home," he said reluctantly letting her go. They walked down the stairs together and Steve called out for Sam. He turned to look at her, "So you have my number in the event something happens right?"

"Yep, I have it in my phone and in my planner," he nodded and looked towards his brother's room then back at her.

"You have a list of the pain medications he needs for his legs and everything?" Mercedes smiled. She thought it was cute the way he seemed like a protective parent leaving their child for the first time.

"I promise I have everything," she placed a reassuring hand on his arm and he relaxed. He looked back at his brother's room and called his name again. Finally Sam rolled out of his room with the same permanent scowl on his face. Mercedes cringed. _It's going to be a long few months with this one_. Sam still refused to look at her and wheeled only to the outside of his door.

"Stevie! Come here for a sec." He said beckoning with his hand. _Stevie? _Mercedes thought, _well that's a cute nickname_. Steve walked to his brother who was pretty much out of Mercedes hearing range. Sam spoke to his brother in hushed tones but Mercedes heard "don't leave me" "could kill me" and "police background check". She rolled her eyes as Steve glared at his brother and said no. He walked back to Mercedes with a look of apology and rubbed the back of his neck. Sam crossed his arms over his chest and looked like he was trying to obliterate Steve with his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Steve looked at her and grinned, "If he gets out of hand, just put a stick in his wheel." Mercedes laughed, "It'll hold him off for awhile." He looked over at his brother, "Don't be an ass Sam, she's here to help you." Sam rolled his eyes and rolled back into his room and shut the door.

"Why does he call you Stevie?" She said turning to him. He gave her a sheepish grin. "If it's personal you don't have to say," she was worried that she may have overstepped her boundaries.

"No no," he said walking to the door and picking up his own bag that was in the corner. "Stevie is my given name. I just didn't think it sounded professional once I got older," he smiled, "So I tell people my names Steve, but you can call me Stevie," She smiled.

"I like that," she played with her hair, "Stevie it is then." He winked at her and opened the door.

"Keep me posted Cedes," he walked out the door, "Call me if anything happens..." he spoke in a lower voice, "or if you just want to talk okay?" Mercedes' voice got lost in her throat from all of the emotions, so she just nodded and smiled. He smiled back and walked towards the drive way. She closed the door and leaned on it. _Mhm, he can get it. _She giggled to herself and walked to the kitchen to see what she could prepare for dinner. Sam couldn't reach the stove from his wheelchair, which was why one of her tasks was to cook for him. Stevie told her that Sam didn't have any allergies, so she could pretty much cook whatever she felt like. But she wanted to see what he wanted, so she went to his room and knocked on the door.

"Sam?" she heard no reply, "Sam I know you're in there," still silence, "unless you chose to wheel yourself out the window" she still received no reply. She rolled her eyes, "Mr. Evans?"

"What do you want?" he said finally. _Seriously? I have to call you Mr. Evans_? Mercedes shook her head.

"I wanted to know what you wanted for dinner" she tried to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Leave me alone, I'm not hungry," Mercedes crossed her arms over her chest.

"You have to eat Sam," no reply. "I mean, Mr. Evans"

"Are you deaf? Or did I stutter?" Mercedes jaw dropped, "I said I'm not hungry! Now leave me alone!" _Well fuck you too buddy_. Mercedes tried to calm herself down and walked away. _Starve for all I care_. She could feel her face get hot and her eyes began to water. She decided to call her mom. She went upstairs to her new room and closed the door. She picked up her phone and dialed but there was no answer. She thought back to where she could be. _Oh damn work_, her mom was probably finishing up and on her way home. Mercedes forgot that she had to let herself in to leave Chewie inside her mom's apartment. She went back downstairs and decided to cook for herself then.

She made herb and garlic chicken with wild rice and asparagus on the side. She made sure that everything smelt delicious so that Sam would be forced to come outside, but he never did. She cleaned up after herself and washed the dishes. She put the leftovers away in the fridge and even though she didn't want to, she had to go check on Sam again.

She knocked, "Mr. Evans?" she heard movement from inside but no reply, "Mr. Evans?" she said more loudly.

"GO AWAY!" he yelled from inside the door. _Oh hell to the no_, Mercedes was fuming. She did not deserve to be treated this way. She tried turning the doorknob but it was locked.

"OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" she yelled back at the door. "YOU NEED YOUR MEDICINE!" she was so mad, she was shaking.

"FUCK THE MEDICINE!" was his reply. That was the last straw. Mercedes walked to her room and grabbed a bobby pin from her bag, _you're messing with the wrong woman, you freaking wheel barrow._ She ran back down the stairs and began picking the lock to his door. "What are you doing?" he asked from inside, but Mercedes continued to work on the lock. "Stop whatever you're trying to do!" She heard the click and swung it open to see Sam with his pants down, laptop open, staring at her with his mouth wide open. Mercedes screamed at the sight and ran to her room and locked her door. She slowly sat on her bed and began laughing. She laughed until she cried. _Well for one thing the accident didn't cripple his member_, she blushed at the image, _damn._ She stayed in her room for an hour and then unlocked her door and peered out. _Why did I lock the door? What's he going to do, wheel himself up the stairs?_ She giggled to herself and quietly crept to the kitchen. She was just going to leave his medicine on the counter to make him drink it in the morning. She looked over to his bedroom, _Good the door's closed_, and she quickly walked into the kitchen. Once she got there she jumped and dropped the medicine. Sam was staring at her with half an asparagus sticking out of his mouth and a fork in his hand. She was looking at him but immediately thought of what she had seen earlier and began to blush. She quickly picked up the medicine and put it on the counter.

"You need to drink this to avoid getting blood clots in your legs," she said not looking at his face. She turned around but before she left she spoke over her shoulder, "I need to massage your legs in the morning so be up early," she walked out and yelled behind her, "and don't be watching any porn too!" she heard a fork clatter to the floor. With that she ran upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door. She hadn't even waited for him to reply. At this point she didn't give a crap. If it was a war he wanted, she was ready to give it to him.

-I love your reviews! please keep them coming!-


	6. Chapter 6

Sam was jolted out of his sleep by a sharp pain in his leg. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew he should have taken his medication the night before. He sat up in bed and tried massaging it to loosen the tightness in his leg, but it was excruciating. He looked at his clock. _Shit it's only six am_. He had only fallen asleep about three hours before. He rubbed his eyes and tried to shift himself into his wheelchair, but the second that he moved, the pain intensified. He yelled out in pain. His entire leg was seizing and Sam began to tear up. _Suck it up Sam! _He squeezed his eyes shut, _suck it the fuck up._ He tried moving to his chair again so that he could go to the kitchen and grab his medicine. But as he moved the pain took over and he missed the chair and landed on the floor. He screamed. He was sure the extra added assault to his body, on top of the pain in his leg, would have knocked him unconscious. But of course because life liked fucking around with him, he stayed awake and alert.

Sam heard her running to him before she even got to the door. He laid down on the ground and just focused on his breathing, instead of on his leg.

She knocked on the door, "Sam? What's wrong?" he could hear the panic in her voice. Before he could even answer she was inside kneeling next to him. She looked him over, "Is it your leg?" she tried to figure out what had happened, "did you fall out of bed?" she attempted to pull him up, but Sam felt like his leg was on fire again. He grinded his teeth and grunted in pain. Mercedes let him go and ran out of the room. She brought his medication, painkillers, and a glass of water back with her. She put everything on the floor next to her, kneeled behind him, and pulled him up so that his head was on her chest. Sam tried to ignore the intimacy of the situation. It made him extremely uncomfortable to be so vulnerable and next to her at the same time. She handed the pills to him and the glass of water and he downed them both. He closed his eyes and waited for the medication to take hold. She quietly hummed behind him and soothingly smoothed her hand over his forehead. He felt himself drifting into sleep, but he didn't care. That was the most comfortable Sam had ever let himself be with any woman before.

He woke up the next morning on his bed. He looked around his room slightly confused. _What the hell happened?_ He rubbed his leg and noticed that it felt perfectly fine. He lifted himself into his chair and rolled outside to the bathroom. But the door was locked. He rolled his eyes and knocked on it.

"Occupato" came her reply.

He crossed his arms over his chest, "Ms. Jones, you have your own bathroom upstairs," he scowled at the door, "why the hell are you in mine?"

"Mr. Evans," she sounded annoyed, "you never ask a lady why she's in the bathroom." Sam smirked at the realisation that he was getting to her.

"Well, I don't see a lady," he said snidely, "But I do see a woman who won't get the hell out of my bathroom." There was silence so he pounded on the door. "MS. JONES! GET OUT! I HAVE TO PEE!" _Was that laughing he heard?_ There was a flush and then water running. Sam felt like his bladder was going to pop. With the amount of time it would take him to shimmy out of his pants and awkwardly stand he didn't think he would make it. She came out of the bathroom with a smug smile.

"Do you need helping using the little boys room?" Sam stared at her returned rudeness.

"No!," he slightly yelled at her, "what the hell am I?" he raised his eyebrow, "A mule?" _a mule? Why the hell did I say a mule?_ She gave him a confused look.

"Mules don't need help using the bathroom." _Fuck this! _Sam had to pee like a trucker.

"EXACTLY! GET OUT OF MY WAY OR I WILL RUN YOUR ASS OVER SO HELP ME GOD" He screamed. She quickly jumped out of his way and he rolled in. He could hear her cackling after he closed the door. As he struggled to get out of his pants he vowed to get his revenge.

After his almost failed bathroom attempt, he rolled back into his bedroom. He moved himself on to his bed and laid back to think. When he had first seen Mercedes, he had been stunned by how beautiful she was. He had expected to see some old, hunch backed woman, with a hairy mole, and dentures. But, when he had rounded the corner he had seen her smooth skin, her perfect curves, her smile, and his heart began to pound. He didn't like the feeling at all. So he refused to even acknowledge her, which he knew was rude. But it was perfect.

If he treated her like all the other women in his life then she wouldn't feel the need to get attached to him and vice versa. He subconsciously rubbed his leg as he thought about it. He didn't want to admit it to Stevie, but Sam hadn't wanted Mercedes to be his nurse because of his initial feelings about her. He also felt like he had met her before or had at least seen her before and he couldn't figure out why she looked so familiar. He raked his brain for hours but couldn't remember where he had seen that smile before. He rubbed the back of his neck. Sometimes it hurt him as much as his leg did. It had been hurting him from his car accident and then the second one had messed it up even more for him. His eyes roamed over to his computer and he groaned. His mind flashed back to yesterday's ultimate embarrassment and he flushed.

When Sam had seen Mercedes talking to his brother the day before, he had silently looked her over. She had looked so good in her black jeans and pink top. He quickly noticed the uncomfortable tightening in his pants and took the opportunity to roll the hell out of the situation. He tried to squelch the arousal by thinking of unpleasant things, like Rachel's sweater. But then Mercedes would magically be wearing it and he got hot again. She had scared the crap out of him when she came to ask him if he wanted dinner, so he locked the door. He didn't want her seeing his man budge by accident. _Fuck it_, he had thought. He opened his laptop and typed in _Black girls booty and ass._*

He had never looked at it before, but he needed something to remind him of Mercedes. He placed his laptop on his bed and tried his best to shimmy out of his pants. The damned action took him about five minutes to do because of his bad leg. He couldn't wait until he went to physical therapy. When he finally got his pants low enough he pressed play. Sam's eyes widened. _Damnnn_, he cocked his head to the side and just stared at the gloriousness before him. _How the hell do they make it clap like that? It's like they're applauding me for just being on here. _He just watched in awe for a bit and then started to get his business done when he heard the knock. Sam blanched. _You've got to be kidding me._

"Mr. Evans?" he stopped the video and tried to stay silent. "Mr. Evans?" she said more loudly.

"GO AWAY!" he yelled praying that she would just leave him alone. He saw that she tried to turn the knob and he thanked the gods that he had remembered to lock it. He had smiled smugly at his own quick thinking.

"OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!" she yelled back. "YOU NEED YOUR MEDICINE!" Sam began to chuckle at how mad she sounded.

"FUCK THE MEDICINE!" he replied. He heard silence and then saw her shadow move away from the bottom of the door. He waited until he heard her go upstairs. _Good, now back to my ebony goddesses. _He pressed play again and tried to get back in the mood of the moment. But then he heard her run down the stairs and his hand froze. He heard her doing something to his doorknob and he panicked. "What are you doing?" he asked but he could still hear her fidgeting with the doorknob. _Oh my god is she fucking picking the lock?_ Sam tried his best to pull his pants back up as fast as he could. "Stop whatever you're trying to do!" he heard the click and saw the door swing open. His jaw dropped. There she was looking pissed as hell staring at him with his damn wangdoodle swaying back and forth as if greeting her. She screamed an ear piercing scream and ran away from the room. _Well, _Sam slowly looked back at the computer _that definitely killed the mood._ He quickly closed his computer and rolled to the door and locked it again.

He waited for half an hour or so to make sure she had gone to sleep before he went to the kitchen to satisfy his hunger. He rolled around to the fridge and grabbed some Tupperware containers. _Mmm, asparagus_. He couldn't reach the microwave so he decided to just eat it all cold. He grabbed a fork and started munching away. Next thing he knew he heard something drop to the ground and Mercedes was standing there staring at him. _Well this is uncomfortable._ She mumbled something about a massage and walked away. _Good she didn't mention anything_, he had thought to of course she had to mention the porn. Sam dropped his fork in shock. The chick had balls, that was for sure.

Sam chuckled at the memory. _Hey welcome to the house Ms. Jones! Oh and this is my penis_. He decided that he had to get her out of the house after that. He tried to figure out what he could tell Stevie in order for him to fire her. He could say that she tried beating him with a broom or something. _I can throw myself on the bottom of the stairs like right before he comes in_. Sam shook his head, _but_ _how would she have gotten me up the stairs in the first place._ He sighed. He couldn't lie to Stevie. Every time he lied his eye would start twitching and Stevie always caught it, much to Sam's annoyance. Nobody would ever know how hard it was to be a lawyer who couldn't lie in court or even slightly fabricate something. He heard his stomach grumble and decided that he would figure out a plan later on.

He slid back into his chair and rolled over to the kitchen where he found Mercedes sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal and reading a newspaper. She looked at him over the top of it and then looked back down. He pulled the milk out of the fridge and placed it on the counter. He looked for the cereal and realised that she had put it on top of the fridge. He slowly glared in her direction and saw the subtle shake of her body. _She's laughing at me_. He rolled his eyes and rolled over to a lower cupboard and pulled out his spare box of cereal. As he poured it into his bowl he stared at her triumphantly and she rolled her eyes. He put the box back and rolled up to the table and sat in front of her.

She put her paper down and stared at him, "What?" he finally said after some time. She smiled a secretive smile and looked down. _What the hell does that mean?_

"Nothing at all," she smiled. Sam raised his eyebrow. Her face then got serious, "How is your leg?" _Ah, so that really did happen._ Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I know it was really hurting you last night," did he detect a hint of concern in her voice? He simply nodded and continued eating his cereal. "We need to make sure you take your pills every night from now on"

"Yup," he avoided looking at her face. _A man never shows weakness, do you understand Sam? You'll never be anything if you're weak_. Sam cringed at his father's voice in his head.

"Are you ready for your doctor's appointment tomorrow?" Sam knew she was trying to be friendly. But it annoyed him. He wasn't planning on falling into this trap.

"Nope" he said finishing off his cereal. He rolled to the sink and put his bowl in. He left the kitchen without saying another word to her. He heard her scoff behind him and mutter "catch you on the flip side motherfucker." He smirked. He would never admit it to anyone or even himself, but he loved the attitude with this one.

Later in the day he was working on some cases that he hoped he would still be able to defend once he got better. He heard the doorbell and immediately thought Stevie had come over. _But Stevie has a key_. Sam rolled to the door of his room and opened it a crack to hear what was going on.

"Hi can I help you?" he heard Mercedes say at the door. _Who in the hell?_ The minute he heard the stranger's voice, his stomach cringed. He quickly shut the door quietly and manoeuvred himself on to his bed. He could hear Mercedes walking to his door, so he pulled his covers up to his neck and pretended he was sleeping. He didn't want to see her or talk to her. He didn't want to acknowledge the fact that she had hurt him by not even visiting.

Mercedes knocked on his door, "Mr. Evans, you girlfriend Quinn is here" Sam squeezed his eyes shut and turned to face the wall. He could hear Mercedes open the door, "I'm sorry he's asleep can you come back later?" he heard her tell Quinn.

"Well wake him up," was Quinn's reply. If Sam's eyes had been opened, he would have rolled them. "I haven't seen him for weeks. He'd want to see me." _I'd want to see you in hell, that's for damn sure._

"I'm sorry," Mercedes said in an annoyed tone, "but he is healing and needs his rest," _Yes, you tell that wench. _"I refuse to wake him up just because you FINALLY decided that you should come and see if he was still alive."

"Excuse me," Quinn growled at Mercedes, "and who the HELL ARE YOU?" _Oh shit. _"That's my fucking boyfriend in there and you're just a simple maid who needs to mind her own damn business." Sam heard his door shut. However, he could still hear the muffled conversation. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" Quinn screamed.

"Get the hell out of this house, you blonde bimbo," Sam silently cheered for Mercedes in his head. "And for your information, I'M HIS NURSE BITCH!" the front door slammed. Sam was in shock. He slowly got up and scratched his face. _Well that was hot_. Mercedes suddenly opened his door and he jumped. "Crap did that wake you up?" he clutched his blanket and pulled it over his legs.

"What?" he tried to act oblivious. Mercedes raised her eyebrow.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend," Sam rubbed his eyes.

"I don't," he gave her a look of indifference.

"I've noticed that you're a man of very few words," she said with a slight smile. Sam didn't know why but it gave him a fluttering feeling in his stomach. _It's probably just gas_, he thought.

"I don't like to waste my words," Her smile dropped. _Shit, I didn't mean for it to come out like that_. She just nodded and walked out. _Whatever, it's a good thing if she hates you. _Sam closed his eyes. _Right?_

_*Thanks to suitablycontrary for this contribution, I also imagine Sam to be a closeted lover of big booties_


	7. Chapter 7

Stevie sat in his little office and threw a tennis ball in the air and caught it. He had been repeating the mindless action for half an hour. He looked over at his cell phone. _Nope_, he sighed, _no missed calls_. It wasn't very late in the evening but things were moving pretty slowly in the office. Stevie contemplated closing the little animal hospital for the night. He put the ball down and walked around the cages to see if his patients were okay. He picked up one of the little puppies who had fallen ill. He held her in his arms and scratched her gently behind the ear. The little dog looked into his eyes and then she closed them just as quickly. He smiled and put her back in her warm cage. He walked out into the main area of his office and leaned on his secretary, Mrs. O'Conell's, desk. She raised her eyebrow at the sudden invasion of her space. Stevie loved the feisty old lady. She sometimes reminded him of Sam because she could be just as blunt in her observations on things.

"Has anyone called for me?" he asked her. She gave him a knowing smile and shook her head no.

"No one has called since you asked me half an hour ago Stevie," he sighed and stood up. "Oh, she must be a beauty, if she's got your panties all up in a twist." She smirked. Stevie's eyes widened. "Oh, don't you give me that look," she looked at him over her glasses. "I know an animal in heat when I see one." Stevie let out a surprised laugh.

"I'm just making sure my brother's nurse didn't call" he wasn't lying. He had been waiting for Mercedes to call him. But it wasn't because he wanted to talk about Sam. The older woman studied his face.

"She's a nurse huh," she wiggled her eyebrows, "did she ever tell you to bend over and cough?" Stevie doubled over in laughter at the crudeness of the woman in front of him.

"NO," he laughed, "and to answer your question," he paused and smiled, "she is extremely beautiful." Mrs. O'Connell smiled.

"I promise you," she took his hand and squeezed it, "I will tell you when she calls," she gave him a wide smile. "And I say _when_, because she will." Stevie blushed, gave her a sheepish grin, and nodded. He walked back to his office and checked his cell phone again. _Nothing _he sighed, _Snap out of it Stevie_. He hadn't felt anything like this for a long time and it scared him.

Stevie's last relationship had left him pretty much traumatised. He had dated a young single mother named Angela three years before. She had come into his animal hospital with her five year old daughter Sarah and their injured bunny, Mr. Fluffer's. Stevie thought that the little girl was absolutely adorable with her six teeth and Angela had thought that he was adorable with his cute butt. She loved the gentle and kind way that he had interacted with Sarah and she mustered up the courage to ask him out on a date. Stevie had been slightly taken aback by the sweet gesture. But it didn`t take him more than thirty seconds to agree to go to dinner with her. He discovered that he loved her personality and sense of humour. They sat at dinner for hours just talking about anything and everything. At the end of the date, he had walked her to her door unsure as to whether or not he should give her a kiss. When all of a sudden a little voice from the window yelled, "Just kiss her already". Angela had blushed and Stevie just laughed. But when they had finally kissed he had felt as if everything in the world was right.

They went on a lot of dates, many including little Sarah, and he had finally felt like he had his own little family. He didn't move in with them even though Angela had asked him to, but he was there enough that any outsider would think he permanently resided there. He remembered going to the park with them one day and buying Sarah an ice cream cone, the vendor smiled down at the little blonde girl and said, "You're a lucky little girl for having a daddy who will by you treats," she had smiled back at the man and simply said, "I know." Stevie's heart exploded. She insisted on calling him daddy after that and Angela never stopped her, nor did he mind. But suddenly things changed. After a year or so, Angela became distant and hostile.

Stevie leaned back in his office chair and replayed their last conversation together in his head. He closed his eyes and he pictured it as if it was happening right in front of him again.

"_Ange," he looked at the petite blonde woman facing the window, "what's wrong?" she shrugged. Stevie bit his lip and tried again, "I love you and..." he walked towards her, "I wish you would tell me what was wrong." He put his hand on her shoulder, "I want to fix it, I want to make you feel happy again." He turned her towards him and saw that she was crying. He pulled her into a hug which caused her to cry harder. "Ange! What's wrong?" he began to panic._

"_Don't Stevie!" she pulled away from him. She put out her hand to keep him away, "Just...don't" Stevie raked his brain over what he could have done to hurt her so much, he looked towards the stairs to make sure that Sarah hadn't woken up and come down. He looked back at her and shook his head._

"_I don't understand what I did to you and you won't tell me how to fix this Angela!" he said in a tired voice. He started to cry from the frustration of the situation. "What do you want me to do?" the woman shook her head._

"_I don't want you to do anything," she wiped her eyes, "I just..." she suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and clutched her stomach. She ran to the bathroom and slammed the door. Stevie ran after her and heard her throwing up. He tried turning the knob but discovered she had locked it._

"_Ange! I'm calling the hospital something's wrong and we need you to get help," he said to the bathroom door. _

"_NO," she yelled from inside. He leaned his head against the door, "Just give me a second," he heard the water running and her moving inside. He moved away from the door and she slowly opened it. She walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch. He sat down next to her and just stared at her face. She was staring straight in front of her. He was worried that something horrible had happened and that she just didn't want to tell him. "I'm pregnant," she said flatly, still not even bothering to look at him. Stevie's eyes widened as he took in the news. His face broke out into a huge smile and he grabbed her hands._

"_What?" she slowly turned to look at him, "I'm going to be a dad?" he was smiling so wide his face hurt, "Oh my God Ange why didn't you tell me! I'm so excited!" it was her turn for her eyes to get wide, "I'm going to love this baby like no other," She looked down, "I can't wait to tell Sarah she's going to be a little sister."_

_Angela shook her head. Tears were streaming down her face. She muttered something very quietly. "What?" he asked, he hadn't been able to hear her._

"_I said," she took a deep breath, "It's not your baby" Stevie dropped her hands as if they were hot coals. He simply stared at her in horror. She looked at him and bit her lip, "I'm so sorry Stevie!" he slowly got up from the couch, "I didn't mean for it to happen, I just went out for drinks once with this guy from work and—" Stevie put up his hand as if to say enough. He turned away from her and walked upstairs to her bedroom. "Wait Stevie please let me explain!" she ran after him as he went up the stairs. She grabbed his hand._

"_Let me go" he said trying to shake her off._

"_I love you! I'm sorry!" she screamed._

_He quickly turned around, almost causing her to lose her balance, "Be quiet," he looked towards the little girls room, "You'll wake her up" his voice began to crack as he began to cry. He continued up the stairs and grabbed his things from her room. She closed the door quietly behind them._

"_Stevie please we can make this work," he turned to her and stared at her as if she was an intruder in his home, "We can make this OUR baby!" Stevie felt sick. He turned his back to her and walked into the connected bathroom. He grabbed whatever he could see through his tears and threw his stuff in a gym bag that had been lying around in the room. "Please don't leave me!" she paused and he continued to pack, "Don't do this to Sarah," he stopped moving. He slowly turned towards her and glared at her._

"_Don't do this to Sarah?" he growled at her, "DON'T DO THIS TO SARAH?" Her eyes widened and she walked backwards towards the door, "YOU! FUCKING DID THIS TO SARAH!" he was screaming now but he didn't care. "I LOVE SARAH AND I LOVED HER WHORE OF A MOTHER!" he didn't even bother packing more things up. He grabbed his bag and moved towards the door. She jumped out of his way. He flung it open to find the little sleepy eyed girl standing outside of her door. His heart broke at the sight of her and her cried harder. He dropped to his knees and opened his arms for her to come to him. She immediately ran into them and he hugged her tightly._

"_Daddy, what's wrong" she sounded panicked, "Why are you crying?" he pulled her away so that he could look at her, "did you get a boo boo?" he chuckled slightly through his tears._

"_Sarah, listen to daddy okay," the little girl nodded, "never forget that I LOVE YOU," she stared at him wide eyed and nodded, "no, you have to pinky promise that you will always remember how much I love you," sensing that something was wrong she began to cry but stuck out her little pinky. He gently grabbed it and wrapped it around his own. He kissed her on the forehead, grabbed his bag, and stood up. He walked down the stairs with Angela on his heels._

"_Stevie PLEASE PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! I NEED YOU" once he reached the bottom of the stairs he whipped around and stared at her._

"_You should have thought about that before Angela," he wiped his eyes, "You should have thought about that before."_

"_DADDY DON'T GO" the little girl screamed from the top of the stairs. He looked past Angela and blew her a kiss. He turned around and walked out the door. His body shook as he walked to his car. He threw his bag in the backseat and looked at the door to see Angela holding a crying Sarah. He started his car, drove away, willing himself not to turn back. And he never did._

Stevie opened his eyes and wiped his tears. He hadn't had feelings for anyone or hadn't dated anyone since Angela. But when he met Mercedes all of that had changed, he had trouble sleeping because he constantly thought about her. He didn't know why. He couldn't figure out how she had managed to have such an effect on him when they hardly knew each other. But it had been something that he had seen in her soul the day that she spoke about her father that had just done something to him. Sometimes he would call her, but then hang up before it rang. He was scared that she would think he was insane for just randomly calling her, so he just didn't. He heard a loud buzzing and looked down at his phone. _Mercedes Jones._ Stevie quickly snatched it up and answered.

"Hey Cedes, is everything okay?" he hoped he didn't sound too eager to talk to her.

"Hey Stevie," he loved hearing her say his name, "not really." Stevie began to worry that something was wrong with Sam, "Sam's girlfriend Quinn came over today and I wanted to know if we could get a restraining order against her so that I don't kill her," Stevie laughed.

"Trust me," he smiled into the phone, "if I could have, I would have done it ages ago." He heard her giggle, "Why, what did the bobble head do?"

"Well she came over here and Sam was sleeping and I told her she couldn't see him," he nodded even though she couldn't see, "and then she called me a maid and told me that I needed to let her see him, so I threw her big ass out of the house." Stevie shook his head, _that musty bitch._

"Thank you!" he laughed, "I've been telling my brother to kick her out of his life for a year, but he insists on keeping her," he shook his head at his brother's stupidity.

"Well you're brother is a damned fool," he heard her gasp, "I mean...oh shit I shouldn't have said that to my patient's brother." She sounded worried.

Stevie laughed, "No no trust me I know he's a damned fool." He spoke in a soothing voice, "don't ever be afraid to say what's on your mind Cedes," he paused and bit his lip, "That's what I love about you." She was silent for a moment and Stevie wondered if he said too much.

"Really?" she said in a lowered tone. He smiled.

"Yes, really" he cleared his throat, "Actually, I've been thinking about you a lot lately...and I wanted to know if you would like to go to dinner sometime?"_All my cards are on the table_. He bit his lip nervously.

"How's tomorrow night sounding for you Mr. Veterinarian?" he felt a tingle go up his spine at the way she had made her voice all sultry. _Wow is it hot in here?_ He fanned himself.

"It sounds amazing," he smiled, "wear jeans and something warm okay?"

"Hmm, what do you have in mind?" she said with the same voice. Stevie felt like his body was going to overheat. _How is this woman so fucking sexy?_ He began to picture her in a nurse's outfit, which wasn't helping him at all. He shook his head to clear the image.

"You'll just have to wait and see tomorrow Ms. Jones" he said in a low gruff voice, "it'll be fun, I promise"

She giggled, "Okay, I'm excited," he was excited too, "by the way, I just wanted an excuse to call you tonight" she laughed, "ugh, I'm awkward"*

"No," he grinned, "you're motherfucking beautiful"* he heard her gasp and then sigh.

"Damn, tomorrow seems so far away now," he smiled.

"Just stuff some pills down my brothers throat, sleep all day, and then I'll be there in no time," he liked flirting with her.

"Good idea," he heard her move around, "I'll go take care of the grouch right now, I'll see you tomorrow Stevie," she said in a softer voice.

"See you tomorrow Cedes," he was blushing and was glad she couldn't see. He heard the click and stared at the phone. He put it down and slowed his breathing so that his heart wasn't pounding as quickly. He closed his eyes and smiled. He prayed that things would finally go well for him.

*I love The Awkward black girl series, which is where these quotes came from

Edit: hope you guys enjoyed, don't forget to review, and what do you think they will do on their date?


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I decided to do this chapter in two parts. The date will be in 8.2 and still in Mercedes' POV. Don't worry 8.2 will be up today :) hope you enjoy!_

Mercedes woke up the next morning feeling on top of the world. She couldn't wait for her date with Stevie. _Just get through most of the day and then the fun begins_. She smiled to herself, _nothing can ruin this for me_. She rolled out of bed and decided to call her mom. As usual her mother answered after one ring.

"Hey baby," Mercedes smiled and rubbed her eyes, "How's my girl?"

"Hey mom," She got up, stretched, and walked to the window. She hoped the weather would be good for the night. "I'm good, I just missed you." Her mother laughed.

"I miss you too," Mercedes heard a bark, "and so does Chewie," Mercedes' heart hurt. She missed her little dog more than anything. "You're sister's coming by later to take me to the movies," Mercedes thought of her younger sister Delores. They had grown extremely close in their adult years, but Mercedes had been so busy with things lately that she hadn't had the time to call her. "She wanted to know why you didn't tell her you got a job," Mercedes laughed.

"I know, I forgot," she made a mental note to speak to her sister, "tell her I'll call her soon," She loved the relationship that she now had with her sister. When they were younger Mercedes pretty much wanted to kill her. She was pretty sure she had actually tried on numerous occasions to do so. But now they could talk about anything. Mercedes definitely wanted to gossip with her about the date with Stevie. Her sister would freak the hell out when she saw what he looked like. The man was absolutely gorgeous and the way that he had spoken to her the day before had made her panties disintegrate.

"Mhm, I'll tell her," her mother laughed, "Oh by the way Cattie I bought some of those chocolates you love," Mercedes drooled, "Come by soon and get them," when Mercedes was a child her mother would always leave a small chocolate on her bedside table before she went to work. It had been the best part of her childhood. Sometimes Mercedes wondered if her mother ever gave them to other kids. She highly doubted it though.

"Yes please!" she walked back to her bed and sat down, "I'll hopefully come by this weekend."

"Alright girly," her mother sneezed, "Lord have mercy, I think I'm getting sick." Mercedes frowned, "Okay, well I love you and you better come by to see me and Mr. Chewie over here," Mercedes giggled. She wished she could have told her mom about the date, but she knew that she would never get off the phone if she did. Her mom had been pushing her to date for as long as she could remember. She would always complain that she had no grandbaby's to spoil and then pointedly look at Mercedes. Mercedes always rolled her eyes and pointed out that Delores wasn't popping out babies either. But her mother always shook her head and laughed.

"I promise mom, I'll be there soon," she sighed, "I love you guys, and please feel better." She hated when her mom got sick. It freaked her out to see her mother being anything less than strong. Even when Mercedes had gone through her rebellious stage, her mother always stood her ground and remained strong.

"Alright, please stay safe Cattie," with that Mercedes heard the click on the phone. She sighed. She wanted to go home, but the money from this job was paying her bills, and helping her mother.

She decided to take a shower before she ventured downstairs to deal with the jackass on wheels. She pinned up her hair, put on her shower cap, and stepped in. She loved the feeling of the water hitting her body. She lathered up her loofa and gently scrubbed her body. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. She suddenly and sadly realised she hadn't had sex in over two years. Her eyes flew open, _well shit, _she laughed,_ my damn cherry probably grew back._ She laughed and went back to soaping her body. She closed her eyes and thought of those pillow lips. Her mind began to flash on different parts of the man's body. She saw that amazing smile and his thick neck. She rubbed the back of her own neck. She started picturing his dirty blonde hair and his green ey-. For the second time her eyes flew open and she tried to slow down her breathing. _What the fuck? _She wiped the water away from her eyes, _was I just picturing Sam?_ She shook her head, turned the water off, and got out of the shower.

She put a white tank top and a thin grey cardigan on top. She pulled up her dark blue jeans and made her way downstairs. She refused to acknowledge the fact that she had just fantasized about the wrong brother. She took a deep breath and knocked on his door.

"Come in," _well that was different. _She slowly opened the door and saw Sam sitting up in bed working on his laptop. He simply stared at her and she just stared back. She could feel herself getting hot as she looked into his green eyes. The same green eyes that she had just fantasized about. He raised his eyebrow and she looked down. "Can I help you?" _Why did I come in here? _She wondered, _quick think of an excuse._

She looked up and pushed down the nervous feeling in her stomach. "I wanted to know if you needed a massage before your appointment," _Why? Why did you ask THAT? _ He looked at her in surprise.

"Yea," her eyes widened, "actually, that'd be good," he said with a grin. Mercedes tried to slow down her heart beat and walked towards him. He handed her his laptop and she put it down on the floor. She gently sat cross legged on his bed and stared at him. _What is happening right now!_ She hoped she looked calm on the outside because she was freaking out in the inside. He scooted closer towards her and she picked up his left leg. She slowly and gently massaged his calf.

"You should be wearing your leg brace you know," she said eyeing the item in the corner. He looked over at it, rolled his eyes, and shrugged. _Yep, still an ass_. "I'm serious, your leg won't heal properly if you don't." He looked into her eyes and sighed. She looked back down at his leg and noticed her hands had made their way to his thigh. Despite his injury, she could still feel the firm muscles in his leg. She continued her journey up his body. She could feel her face getting hot as she got closer to his hip. Her mind went to the image of what she had seen a few nights before. He put his hand on hers to stop it from moving.

"That's enough," she saw that a blush was creeping up his neck, he cleared his throat "I need to get ready for the appointment," he pulled his blanket over his legs, but not before Mercedes saw what he was hiding. She quickly got off the bed, nodded, and walked out the door. She bit her lip and started twisting her ring. _He's an asshole, never forget that._ She nodded at her own thoughts and continued to the kitchen.

They got back from the doctor's appointment and Mercedes smirked. He had scolded Sam for not wearing his leg brace, just like Mercedes had. So she would have to make sure he was wearing it at all times, even when he was sleeping. Fortunately for them however, he would start his physical therapy the following week, and depending on how better his leg got with the brace, he would switch to crutches. He had scowled all the way from the doctor's office to the house. He hadn't said anything to her, nor would he look at her. Well he did look at her when he thought she wasn't looking, but she saw him from the corner of her eye. She noticed that he was clenching his jaw. She figured he was thinking about something and left him alone. He went to his bedroom and she decided to take a nap before her date.

After having nap and a pretty boring day, Mercedes sat down in the living room to watch T.V. She flipped through the channels and landed on _Maury_. She leaned back on the couch and relaxed.

Sam rolled in next to her and faced the T.V. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and saw that he was staring at the program with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you watch this crap?" she rolled her eyes and looked over at him.

"Because it's mindless entertainment," she smirked, "And not everyone wants to just watch porn, like _some people_" he quickly whipped his head in her direction and she smiled and looked back at the T.V. _Mhm suck on that. _

He cleared his throat, "Nothing is wrong with watching porn," he smirked, "I'm pretty sure the story lines are better than this pile of shit," he said pointing to the television.

She rolled her eyes and stared at him, "Oh really?"

He looked right back at her, "Yea, really" she scoffed. She didn't really care for _Maury_ but the fact that Sam was getting so riled up enticed her.

She turned her body towards him, "Okay Mr. Know it all" he grinned, "What the hell do you even know about _Maury?"_

"I know enough to know that every episode is the same fucking thing," he leaned towards her. Mercedes could smell his cologne from how close they were to each other. "Okay, you know what," he rolled in front of her, "I will demonstrate a typical episode." She leaned back in the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hello everyone," he said imitating Maury. "Today we have a guest named Chaundra," Mercedes tried to hide her smile, "She's here because her boyfriend D'Angelo won't admit that their two month old daughter," he smiled at her, "the audience will all say aww here," Mercedes giggled. "He won't admit that two month old Mary is his." Sam looked to the seat next to Mercedes, "So Chaundra tell us your story," Sam cleared his throat and started speaking in a loud nasally voice, "Okay, Maury I'll tell you everything. That son of a bitch is denying that my baby's his. He knows that's his baby. I've only slept with him! He took my virginity Maury, that bastard took my virginity. He be saying that I'm a hoe because I strip for money at night. Like what the fuck, I'm not no hoe Maury." Sam started clapping his hands together, "he needs to own up to HIS RESPONSIBILITES AND TAKE CARE OF HIS BABY." Mercedes doubled over in laughter. "So, Chaundra, you are one hundred percent sure that's his baby," Sam started clapping again, "MAURY I'M ONE THOUSAND PERCENT SURE THAT'S HIS BABY! THAT'S YO BABY BITCH! BE A MAN, BE A MAN, AND TAKE CARE OF YO BABY!"

Mercedes was laughing so hard, she couldn't believe what was happening, "Okay here's D'Angelo," Sam starts booing, "Dat ain't my baby Maury! This trifling hoe has slept with everyone and everything! I seen her sleep with a mailbox Maury! THAT BABY AINT MINE MAURY LOOK MAURY LOOK HOW SMALL HER HANDS ARE! MY HANDS ARE BIG! LOOOK MAURY HER EARS ARE SMALL, MY EARS ARE BIGGER THAN THAT" Mercedes was peeing herself with laughter, "The results are in!" Sam looked at her and spoke to her in his normal voice, "now at this point it can go two ways, I'll show you both," she nodded wiping her eyes from the crying because she was laughing so hard, "D'Angelo...YOU ARE _NOT_ THE FATHER" Sam starts dancing his chair, "YEA BITCH I TOLD YOU," he looks over at the seat again, "Whatever, whatever, I know who the baby daddy is Maury I'll be back, I'll be back don't worry. I know who the daddy is!" Sam looked at her again, "or D'ANGELO YOU ARE THE FATHER." Mercedes had to pee so badly but she couldn't stop laughing, "I told you! I told you bastard, you ain't never gonna see my baby, child support bitch!" with that Sam got quiet and smiled.

Mercedes had to catch her breath. She just stared at him, "That was amazing," she smiled widely, "I'm shocked," he rolled closer to her so that their knees were touching. Mercedes felt a flutter in her chest.

He spoke in a lower voice, "why shocked?" her eyes widened and she had trouble catching her breath.

"Well you just surprised me," she smirked, "I didn't know you were funny Mr. Evans."

He gave her a seductive smile, "I like surprising you," she felt her face get hot and she looked down. _Oh my God,_ she shook her head, _are we flirting right now?_ "Mercedes?' he said her name quietly, but it was the first time he had ever said her name. She looked up into his eyes, "I want you to call me Sam," she couldn't form words so she just nodded. He smiled. They both heard the door open and turned their heads towards it at the same time.

"Hello?," Stevie's voice boomed from the front of the house. "Mercedes?" Sam looked at Mercedes with a confused expression on his face. Mercedes closed her eyes, _shit._

_-Hi guys, I love you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed silly Sam, love reading the reviews they keep me going and thank you _


	9. Chapter 8 point 2

Mercedes could feel her heart pounding a mile a minute. She looked into Sam's confused face and felt sick from all of the nerves in her stomach. Sam backed away from their closeness and let her stand up. She walked into the foyer with a small smile on her face, which quickly grew into a wide one. She looked Stevie up and down. _Damn this man looks good_. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a dark blue form fitting T-shirt, a leather jacket, and sunglasses. She let out the breath she had been holding. He took off his glasses and smiled at her.

"Hey beautiful," he tucked his sunglasses on the collar of his shirt, "You ready?" they hadn't discussed a time, so Mercedes didn't know what time she was supposed to be ready for.

"Ready for what exactly?" Sam rolled into the room behind her. _Double shit_. Mercedes hadn't intended on telling Sam that she was going out with Stevie. She wasn't sure why though, it wasn't as if she cared about what he thought. _Right?_ "Where are you taking my nurse, Stevie?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well hey to you too old man," Stevie looked down at his older brother and then back up at Mercedes, "I promised to take her out for a night of fun," he smiled at her, she felt as if there were butterflies in her stomach. "I figured she's suffered enough by taking care of you and she deserves a break," he joked. Her eyes widened and she slowly looked over at Sam who looked slightly hurt. But just as quickly he looked up at her and glared. She shrunk back from the look.

She cleared her throat, "I'm sorry but I didn't know what time you were coming," she played with her ring and bit her lip, "I'm not ready." Stevie grinned at her.

"That's fine," he said walking towards her, "take as much time as you need," he looked over at Sam, "the old man and I will just hang out and have some brotherly hatred." Mercedes smiled up into his face. She blushed at the look he was giving her. It was as if he was undressing her with his eyes.

She quickly looked over at Sam who was scowling and looking in the opposite direction. Her smile slightly faltered. She quickly nodded and ran up the stairs. _Crap, what are they going to talk about? _She left her door open a crack and stood by it to listen in.

"You two are going out without me?" She heard Sam ask.

"Well yea old man," Stevie laughed, "That's what we grownups call a date" _Damn, Sam's not the only feisty one in this family._

"You can't take her out," her eyes grew wide, "I need her here."

"Need her for what exactly?" she could detect the annoyance in Stevie's voice, "Sam, you're a grown ass man, you don't need her to change your diapers."

"No, but I need her here in case of a medical emergency," she winced at Sam's tone, "she's my fucking nurse, not your play thing."

"Sam," Stevie lowered his voice, "what the fuck is your problem?" _shit his angry voice is sexy as hell,_ she shook her head, _stop that_. "I think you need to slow your _roll_," he laughed at his own pun.

"I think you need to not fuck my nurse," Sam growled, _Lord have mercy. _Mercedes eyes grew wide. _Brotherly hatred indeed._

She heard Stevie scoff, "Who the hell said I was going to try to fuck her?" Mercedes opened the door a little wider, "I might be related to you, but I'm _nothing_ like you" Mercedes slowly walked away from the door, "_I'm _not the one who fucks and chucks, Sam." _I need to stop this. _She quickly threw on a heavy grey sweater and a black jacket and ran down the stairs to see the two brother's glaring at each other. They hadn't even noticed she was back in the room.

"Sorry that took me so long!" The two men quickly looked her over.

Stevie smiled at her, but she could still see the anger in his eyes. "No apologies needed," she grinned sheepishly at him. "I have a surprise for you," he walked back out of the house and left Mercedes and Sam alone. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him clenching his jaw. He wasn't looking at her but at the door. She wondered if he was thinking of locking it or something. Stevie came back into the room carrying a helmet. She raised her eyebrow.

"Are we going rollerblading?" Stevie laughed and shook his head.

"We're going on my motorcycle," Mercedes gasped. She was scared and excited all at once.

"No you're not," they both looked at Sam. "Something could happen to you two."

Stevie rolled his eyes, "We'll be fine," he smiled at Mercedes and handed her the helmet. She looked over at Sam who was looking at his brother with a worried look.

"I'm serious Stevie," his younger brother faced him, "You almost got hurt before and it's my job to take care of you." Stevie's expression softened.

"Sam," Mercedes stared at the interaction, "I promise you, I will take care of us." He looked at Mercedes and smiled, "I won't let anything happen to this goddess over here," Mercedes blushed. "Alright, M'lady" he held out his hand, "our hog awaits." She smiled and took his hand. She didn't even have time to look at Sam because he quickly wheeled himself into his room and closed the door. She stared after him.

"Don't worry," Stevie gently squeezed her hand, "He's a bit of a grouch when it's close to bed time." Mercedes laughed. They got outside and she stared at his bike. _Oh my God I'm going to die._ He swiftly swung his leg over and he put out his hand so she'd have leverage to do the same thing. She put her helmet on, swung her leg around the bike, and held on to his waist. Which she noticed was very firm with muscles. _But, I'll die happy. _

As they drove around she squeezed her eyes shut the entire time while saying quiet prayers to God. Wherever he was taking them, was very noisy. Stevie slowly came to a stop. He spoke over his shoulder.

"You might want to get off first," she nodded and let go of his waist. She pushed herself off the back of the bike and fell to the ground. Her legs were still vibrating from the motorcycle. Stevie quickly got off of the bike and scooped her up into his arms. _Stop fantasizing about the positions he can pick you up and put you in._ "Cedes are you okay?" she nodded.

"Um Stevie," she smiled, "When I said I wanted you to pick me up for the date, I didn't mean literally," he laughed and gently put her down. He kept his hand on her back to make sure she didn't fall backwards, "Wow," she took off her helmet, "who needs a vibrator when you've got one of these," she said patting the bike.

He took his off too and laughed. He gently took her hand and they walked towards, what she finally noticed as a fair*. "I know this is childish," he said grinning sheepishly at her, "But I love fairs like nobody's business." She smiled up into his face.

"It's not childish," she laughed. "I am so excited to whoop your butt at ring toss." He laughed and then put on a serious face.

"Oh that's so cute that you think you can beat me." she raised her eyebrow.

"Oh is that a challenge?" she grinned at him.

"No" he smiled, "a challenge is when you actually have competition," she playfully smacked his arm and he laughed.

"Alright, it's on mother trucker," she said dragging him to the games. They walked over to the ring toss and Stevie put money down to get the rings.

"Trying to win something for your wife sir?" the vendor yelled out. Stevie nodded.

"She thinks she can beat me, so I have to prove her wrong," he winked at her. Mercedes blushed at the fact that he hadn't even corrected the vendor but had played along. After they both lost they walked away in shame.

She looked up at him, "Your wife huh?" He laughed.

"Date, wife, same thing" she laughed. She liked him a lot. The idea of becoming his wife surprisingly didn't bother her at all. _Calm your hormones, you just met the man_. She scolded herself for thinking so irrationally. "Doesn't matter the title," he swung their hands, "You're simply the beautiful Cedes to me." she rolled her eyes at his dorkiness. But on the inside she was screaming with joy.

After they had played around for an hour, Stevie bought them ice cream and they sat down. She licked her's seductively just to watch the red creep up his neck. "I told you I would win" she said smugly.

"Well, how could I not let you win with that adorable pout." He laughed and licked his own ice cream. It was true. He had won a game and she pouted for five minutes. Stevie started tickling her and then she miraculously started winning all of the games. She smiled over her treat. "You look hot tonight Ms. Jones" he said eyeing her over his own ice cream.

She blushed, "You don't look half bad yourself Mr. Veterinarian," she laughed, "you need a new job because it is really hard to say that word seductively." He laughed and brushed a lock of hair away from her face. She shivered at the contact. He noticed and smiled. "Stevie," he looked at her, "Tell me about yourself." She pretended to hold a piece of paper in her hands, _"I can see you look amazing on my paper but I want you to tell me."_ He laughed at the words he had said to her during her interview.

"Well my name is Stevie Evans," he grinned, "I'm twenty nine, but I pretend I'm twenty so I look cute," she giggled, "I have an insane brother who always looks out for me," she nodded, "Um, my parents died when I was eight." He licked his ice cream. "They died in a fire, so now it's just me and Sam." She smiled sadly at her.

"That's so sad," she stopped eating her ice cream, "Where did you guys go?"

"Foster parents," he smiled, "They're amazing. I still talk to them often." She couldn't imagine losing both of her parents like that. She put her hand out on top of his. "It's okay," he flipping his hand over to hold hers in his own. "I don't really remember much about them." She saw a sudden sad look in his eyes, "I think Sam does though," he sighed, "But he never wants to talk about it." _Sounds like Sam._ She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Enough of this sad talk," he finished his ice cream and stood up. He stretched while he waited for her to finish her own. He put his arm around her as they walked to his bike and he held her close. She felt elated. She had never been on a date like this and even though it was simple, she loved every second of it.

They drove back to the house with her saying prayers and humming hymns to mix it up. Once they reached the house, he got off first and helped peel her off from the bike. They joked around about him losing at the fair as they walked to the door. She turned around to face him and he stuck his hands in his pockets. She saw that he was getting red. "SO you'll let a man call me your wife," she said playfully poking him in the shoulder, "but you're shy to kiss me goodnight."

His eyes grew wide and then he raised his eye brow and smiled. He took his hands out of his pockets and put his index fingers in the loops of her jeans and pulled her to him. _Mhm, he can get it in a tree, on a bed, on his bike, on a chair, on a sofa, on a shoe, in a fridge, on the stai-_. Her thoughts were cut off as he kissed her. She lost all ability to think and just wrapped her hands around his neck. He deepened the kiss and she bit his lips. _YASSSSSSS sweet Jesus!._ Suddenly, they heard something break inside the house and broke apart. They looked at each other in a panic and Stevie pulled out his keys and opened the door.

"SAM," he yelled. Mercedes looked around for the man. He rolled out of the kitchen with an annoyed look.

"What?" he said in a sharp tone.

"What do you mean what?" Stevie said walking towards him, "we heard a shattering sound." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Yea, I know," he rolled back towards the kitchen, "I was hungry and tried to get some food and dropped a plate." He looked at Mercedes, "had I not been deserted, it wouldn't have happened." Stevie rolled his eyes and looked at Mercedes. She was studying Sam's face but then looked back at Stevie and smiled. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Good night Cedes" he looked pointedly at his brother, "and you" Sam raised an eyebrow, "don't be a pain." He smiled at them and walked out of the house. Once the door closed, she turned to stare at Sam who was now avoiding her gaze. _I'm too tired for this._

"Night Sam," she said turning away from him.

"Night Mercy," she turned back towards him.

"What did you call me?" he shrugged and rolled past her to his bedroom. She sighed. _The man is so confusing._ When she got upstairs, she sat on her bed and a thought occurred to her. _Wait,_ _why was Sam's eye twitching when he told us about the plate?_

_*Thank you Blackrose for the fair suggestion :P, please review and I hope you enjoyed, does anyone remember why Sam's eye twitches?_


	10. Chapter 9

Mercedes watched Sam struggle to get through the door on his new crutches. She had offered to help him, but he had declined in the most polite Sam way, "Don't, I can do it myself." She watched as he tried to swing one crutch over the threshold of the front door. He almost fell and she grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"Don't Mercedes," he growled, "I can do this." She rolled her eyes and let him go. _Fall and bust your face then._ She was in a bad mood. He had been annoying her all week. First he refused to speak to her or even look her in the eye. Then he would just creepishly stare at her and grin. When she asked him what he was staring at, he would just say _nothing. _And he wouldn't let her help him with anything. "Help is for the weak." He muttered

"Who the hell told you that?" he looked at her over his shoulder.

"My father," her eyes widened. She hadn't expected that answer at all. "He always used to say _help is for the weak_, and _if someone is helping you it's because they want something from you_." A dark look crossed his eyes. Mercedes put her own eyes down so that she didn't have to see it. "Smartest man, I ever met."

"Your father had it all wrong Sam," he continued to struggle to coordinate one crutch with the other. He rolled his eyes. She grabbed his arm, "I'm serious," he looked at her hand and she let go of the muscle she felt there. "Not everyone does something because they want something."

He laughed, "You're so naive," he continued to make his way to his bedroom.

"How am I naive?" she followed him. "There are good people out there who volunteer for free," she folded her arms over her chest.

"No," he spoke to her as if he was speaking to a child, "They do that for recognition," she rolled her eyes, "so that they can go home and tell their friends about how wonderful a person they are." He shook his head, "People are just greedy," he shrugged.

"I think you have a horrible view of life," she stared at him.

"I think I have a realistic view of life and I refuse to be naive like others and believe that everything is all honkey dorey," he leaned his crutches against the wall and awkwardly sat down on his bed. "People don't do things without thinking about how they can benefit from it first."

"I'm here helping you because I want you to get better," she said feeling kind of upset with his thinking.

"No," he stared at her, and pointed, "You're here because you need money for yourself and your family." He leaned back on his bed and closed his eyes. "If you weren't getting paid," he sighed, "You would never willingly stick around a person like me." She knew he was right. But realistically who in their right mind would want to voluntarily stay with a man like Sam. "You're silence lets me know that you agree with me," he opened one eye and looked at her.

"Well it's not like you've made any effort to be my friend," she twisted her ring. "For fucks sake, you only let me call you Sam a week ago." He gave a dark laugh.

"Why be friends with someone who's just using you?" he closed his eye, "I have enough people in my life like that as it is." She walked up to him and shook him. He opened his eyes.

"That's not true!" her voice was shaking, "I would have loved to be your friend," she played with her ring, "but you were this huge fucking asshole from the very beginning." She started walking to the door, "You didn't even give me a damn chance to be your friend." She walked out of his room fuming. _ I hate him so much. _She could hear him hobbling out of his room behind her.

"Mercedes wait," she turned around to face him. As he neared her he tripped himself and she ran in front of him to catch him around his waist. He was leaning on her with his crutches awkwardly surrounding her sides. His hair, which had grown out since the accident, fell into his face which was inches away from Mercedes'. She could feel his breath on her lips. She looked up into his eyes and couldn't catch her breath. She looked down at his plump lips and her legs began to feel weak. She hadn't realised how tall he was since he was always in his wheelchair. But she noticed that he wasn't too tall for her to put her arms around his neck. If she had wanted to, that is. _Mercedes, he's an asshole, back away_. But she couldn't. She was mesmerized by how beautiful his features were. He licked his lips and her eyes began to close.

"Mercedes" he whispered. "You're crushing my waist." she opened her eyes and noticed his face had changed into a grimace. She quickly let go and put her hand on his chest to help him stand up properly. Her face was hot. She was embarrassed by the fact that she had actually wanted him to kiss her. She cleared her throat and he gave her a weird look. "I'm sorry," he muttered. She stared at him surprised. _Oh you think it's that easy huh?_

"Sorry what was that?" she cupped her ear with her hand. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said more clearly. She grinned.

"Sorry for what?" she smirked. He gave her side eye and sighed.

"I'm sorry for...," he shook his head, "Please don't make me do this."

"Oh you're going to do this," she laughed, "Sorry for what?"

He avoided looking at her eyes and sighed again, "I'm sorry for not letting you be my friend."

"and..." she was not letting him off easy.

"and what?" he looked at her confused.

"You were an asshole Sam," she folded her arms across her chest.

"Yea, but I can't apologise for who I am" he gave her a serious look and then smiled. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine good enough," she smirked, "for now." He smiled at her.

"You should do that more often," she grinned.

"What apologise to people?" he shook his head, "It's extremely rare for me to do that."

She laughed, "I don't doubt that," _But you just did it for me. Well that's interesting._ "But I meant you smiling." He shrugged and smirked.

"It's extremely rare for me to do that too," she rolled her eyes, shook her head, and grinned. _Yet you do that a lot for me too._ Just then they heard the doorbell ring. He looked at her confused and she walked over to the door with him slowly hopping behind her.

She opened it and her face fell "Oh hell no," Quinn pushed herself in the door, "You need to get the hell out."

Quinn picked some lint off of her dress, "Sam," she smiled at him, "Please call your bitch off of me." Mercedes' hand was about to fly up when Sam grabbed it. She looked at him and he shook his head no. She quickly grabbed her hand back from him and balled them into fists instead. "I've missed you baby," she said walking closer to him. He put his hand out for her to stop.

"Don't touch me," Mercedes looked at his face. It was full of contempt and anger. "What do you want?" Quinn's smile didn't falter.

"I'm here to see the love of my life of course." She cocked her head to the side, "You almost died for me babe." She put her hand to her chest. "That's the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me." he laughed. _What the hell?_

"I needed to get my car keys back from you." He shook his head, "Trust me, it was nothing more than that." Her smile fell.

"You're lying," she said glaring at Mercedes. _Don't look at me bitch, I didn't say it_.

"I threw my keys to you," he shrugged, "If I didn't want to waste money taking a cab, I would have never run after you." _Damn, that's cold._ Mercedes eyes got wide. _Ice cold. _

Quinn looked down and then smiled. "Well then," she cleared her throat, "I wish you had died." Mercedes tried walking away but Sam gently pulled her back. _I don't want to be a witness to you murdering this poor Barbie. _

"Sorry sweet heart," Sam smiled, "I'm alive and well." He stood a little taller with the help of his crutches, "By the way," his smile fell, "You still fucking your boss Quinn?" _Oh this is some Jerry Springer shit right here._ Quinn started to turn red, "Because I know you were fucking him when we were together, so I was just curious if you were still a hoe?" Quinn looked away and then smiled back at him.

" Yea I am, thanks for asking," Quinn said in a calm voice and shrugged, "It's not like your parts ever worked anyways." Mercedes raised her eyebrows. "They never worked before and I'm sure as hell they don't work now." She looked over at Mercedes. "I never had a real orgasm all year." _Umm, too much information chick._ Mercedes looked at Sam who was turning red with anger. Quinn smiled at her handiwork. "Isn't that right Sammy?"

_Do something._ "Well that's funny," Mercedes smiled, "Because, I've had multiple since we met," Sam looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Sam's a beast in bed," She put her hand on his back. Quinn looked at the two of them and then laughed.

"Please," she put her hand on her hip, "Sam was never into bestiality."

"Fuck you Quinn," Sam leaned on his crutch but never broke eye contact with her. "For your information," he looked over at Mercedes, "She called me hot wheels and rode me all night." If the situation hadn't been so tense Mercedes would have laughed. _Did this fool just say Hot wheels? _Quinn gave him a disgusted look. "Now that I'm on crutches," he smirked, "she calls me tiny Tim." _Oh sweet Jesus. _Mercedes had to bite her lip to stop the laughter.

"Oh but trust me," Mercedes smiled up at Sam, "there is _nothing_ tiny about his Tim." Quinn scoffed and looked down at Sam's crotch and then back up.

"I don't believe a thing you're saying," she folded her arms over chest and smirked, "Sam would never go for someone like you." Mercedes knew the sting showed on her face. She was proud of her curves. She hadn't always been, but she had grown to love them. But what Quinn said had made her feel ugly. She looked down.

"Yea," Sam smiled, "You're right, I would never go for a girl like Mercedes." Mercedes felt like crying, she looked up at him smirking at Quinn and almost ran out of the room. She removed her hand from the small of his back. But just as quickly Sam reached out and grabbed her around her waist and tugged her to him. He put his face inches away from hers and looked at Quinn, "Girls like her are way out of my league." And then next thing Mercedes knew, he was kissing her. He didn't give her a little peck on the mouth. He was gently and passionately kissing her. At first she was shocked but her eyes slowly closed and she brought her hand up to cup his face. He slid his tongue across her lips and she willingly opened them. _Yaaasssssssssssssss_. Her brain was screaming with emotions. She was French kissing Sam Evans in front of his bitch of a girlfriend. She sucked his lip and he moaned into her mouth.

"You two are disgusting," They heard Quinn say but they still didn't stop. They heard the door slam and he slowly stopped kissing her. He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled. Mercedes felt her heart stop. She didn't want the kiss to end.

"Well thanks for helping me with that," he let her go. _ Wait what? _"Sorry if I made you awkward with the kiss," Mercedes stared at him with her mouth open. "I was scared you would slap me," he smiled at her sheepishly. She still gaped at him, "Well see you at dinner then." He smirked and hopped away humming _Ding dong the witch is dead_. Mercedes just stood there staring at him close his bedroom door. _What the fuck just happened?_

She went up to her room and decided to call Stevie. She figured that she should tell him about what had happened. She picked up her cell phone, let out a breath, and dialed.

"Well hello beautiful," he said cheerfully. She smiled. "I was just thinking about you, but I don't miss you or anything." She smirked.

"Oh yea sure," she laughed, "That definitely sounds like you don't miss me."

"I don't know, but if I dream about you," she grinned, "And I have this ache in my chest, does that mean I miss you or is it gas?"

She laughed and pinched the bridge of her nose. _This nerd is so cute._ "Definitely gas."

"Yea, that's what I thought," She could hear him smiling through the phone. "So, when are we going to finish our date Ms. Jones." She loved when he said her name all seductively like that.

"Mmmm, when you finally come to see me Mr. Evans." She had missed him all week but he had been busy with work. She loved their date and slightly wanted to kill Sam for ruining it. She suspected that the broken plate wasn't an accident.

"I'm free tonight," she smiled. She was excited to see him. _Yea after you kissed his brother_. She inwardly groaned, _Shit I forgot about that_. "I'll come on over."

She closed her eyes and forced herself to speak, "Stevie..." she sighed, "Something happened today."

"What?" he sounded worried.

"Quinn came over and was harassing me and Sam," _Ugh, I don't want to do this_, "and we pretended that we slept together to piss her off and then he kissed me to piss her off even more." She held her breath.

"Well that's pretty weird," he said finally, "But at least the witch is gone!" she smiled.

"Are you mad?" she was worried he would have yelled.

"No," he said slowly and then laughed, "I feel bad that you had to kiss the old man, but I appreciate you helping him get rid of her." She let out the breath she had been holding. "You know what," he sounded mischievous, "I'm bringing over booze to celebrate. Oh and _Rock Band_" she laughed. _At least this brother is amazing...but Sam can definitely kiss._ She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Yes do it!" she was excited, "Bring tons of beer and Alize."

"You got it beautiful." He laughed, "Alright see you guys soon."

"Seeya," she heard the click and put her phone down. _Booze and rock band, _she smiled, _it's going to be a good night._

Stevie came over later in the evening. Mercedes almost ran down the stairs to greet him when she heard the door open.

"Hey you" she said running into his arms to hug him.

"Woah, hold on," he put down the alcohol, the rock band equipment, and hugged her properly. He gave her a quick peck on the lips. She blushed.

"How'd you carry all of that on your bike?" she was confused.

He laughed. "I do have a car you know," he wiggled his eyebrows at her playfully. She giggled. _Cool your hormones woman_. Sam came out of his room and smirked at the alcohol and _rock band._

"Who's getting wasted?" he asked.

"All of us," Stevie picked up the goodies and walked into the living room. "Nice crutches by the way," he said over his shoulder. Sam hopped into the living room and winked at Mercedes. _Oh lord._

After one too many beers and a bottle of Alize, the three tipsy adults started playing rock band. Mercedes scanned through the songs and spoke in a louder voice than normal.

"Sam! You have to do this song!" Sam started laughing a deep belly laugh. "It's fucking perfect for tonight!"

"DO it, Do it, DO it," Stevie cheered on his older brother.

"Alright alright," Sam said while struggling to stand up. "Hand me the mic," Mercedes grabbed it and handed it to him, "Alright bitches," he smirked, "it's a motha fuckin sing off." Mercedes grabbed the bass guitar and Stevie hopped on the drums. Sam nodded at Mercedes and she hit play.

Sam started singing in a high nasally voice. To a tipsy Mercedes he sounded just like Cee lo.

Sam: I See You Driving 'round Town  
>With The Girl I Love And I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!

Mercedes and Stevie: Oo, Oo, Ooo

Sam: I Guess The Change In My Pocket  
>Wasn't Enough I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!  
>And Fuck Her Too!<p>

I Said, If I Was Richer, I'd Still Be With Ya  
>Ha, Now Ain't That Some Shit?<p>

Mercedes and Stevie: ain't That Some Shit?

Sam: And Although There's Pain In My Chest  
>I Still Wish You The Best With A...<br>Fuck You!

Mercedes and Stevie: Oo, Oo, Ooo

Sam: Yeah I'm Sorry, I Can't Afford A Ferrari,  
>Mmm But That Don't Mean I Can't Get You There.<p>

I Guess He's An Xbox And I'm More Atari,  
>But The Way You Play Your Game Ain't Fair.<p>

I Pity The Fool That Falls In Love With You

Mercedes and Stevie: oh Shit She's A Gold Digger

Sam: Well

Mercedes and Stevie: just Thought You Should Know Nigga

Sam: Ooooooh  
>I've Got Some News For You<br>Yeah Go Run And Tell Your Little Boyfriend

I See You Driving 'round Town  
>With The Girl I Love And I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!

Mercedes and Stevie: Oo, Oo, Ooo

Sam: I Guess The Change In My Pocket  
>Wasn't Enough I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!  
>And Fuck Her Too!<p>

I Said, If I Was Richer, I'd Still Be With Ya  
>Ha, Now Ain't That Some Shit?<p>

Mercedes and Stevie: ain't That Some Shit?

Sam: And Although There's Pain In My Chest  
>I Still Wish You The Best With A...<br>Fuck You!

Now I Know, That I Had To Borrow,  
>Beg And Steal And Lie And Cheat.<p>

Trying To Keep Ya, Trying To Please Ya.  
>'Cause Being In Love With Yo Ass Ain't Cheap.<p>

I Pity The Fool That Falls In Love With You

Mercedes and Stevie: oh Shit She's A Gold Digger

Sam: Well

Mercedes and Stevie: just Thought You Should Know Nigga

Sam: Ooooooh  
>I've Got Some News For You<br>I Really Hate Yo Ass Right Now

I See You Driving 'round Town  
>With The Girl I Love And I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!

Mercedes and Stevie: Oo, Oo, Ooo

Sam: I Guess The Change In My Pocket  
>Wasn't Enough I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!  
>And Fuck Her Too!<p>

I Said, If I Was Richer, I'd Still Be With Ya  
>Ha, Now Ain't That Some Shit?<p>

Mercedes and Stevie: ain't That Some Shit?

Sam: And Although There's Pain In My Chest  
>I Still Wish You The Best With A...<br>Fuck You!

Now Baby, Baby, Baby, Why D'you Wanna Wanna Hurt Me So Bad?

Mercedes and Stevie: so Bad, So Bad, So Bad

Sam: I Tried To Tell My Mamma But She Told Me  
>"this Is One For Your Dad"<p>

Mercedes and Stevie: your Dad, Your Dad, Your Dad

Sam: Yes she did  
>Uh! Whhhy? Uh! Whhhy? Uh!<br>Whhhy Lady? Oh! I Love You Oh!  
>I Still Love You. Oooh!<p>

I See You Driving 'round Town  
>With The Girl I Love And I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!

Mercedes and Stevie: Oo, Oo, Ooo

Sam: I Guess The Change In My Pocket  
>Wasn't Enough I'm Like,<br>Fuck You!  
>And Fuck Her Too!<p>

I Said, If I Was Richer, I'd Still Be With Ya  
>Ha, Now Ain't That Some Shit?<p>

Mercedes and Stevie: ain't That Some Shit?

Sam: And Although There's Pain In My Chest  
>I Still Wish You The Best With A...<br>Fuck You!

Mercedes stood up and applauded the drunken Sam. He smiled widely at her and her heart fluttered.

"Alright," Stevie said standing up and grabbing the mic from Sam, "It's Cedes and my turn now."

"Wait no fair, I sang alone," Sam pouted. _Damn he is so cute when he's drunk_.

"Sorry big bro," Stevie turned to Cedes and smiled. "I know the perfect song for us," he scrolled through the list and looked back at her and winked.

She looked over at the screen."Oh hell to the no!," she wagged her finger. He laughed, "I am not doing that!"

"Yes we are!" he pressed play.

"Oh My God," she laughed, "can you even rap?"

"I guess we will find out now won't we," he bit his lip. She grinned. _Mmm a bold drunk, Sexy ass mofo._

Stevie: My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad, better better than good  
>My my chick bad, better badder than hood<br>My my my chick bad, badder badder than yours

Mercedes jaw dropped as she watched him lick his lips and she almost jumped the man. He rapped as if it was his day job.

Listen I'm saying my chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff that your chick wish she could  
>My chick bad, badder than yours<br>My chick do stuff that I can't even put in words  
>Her swagger don't stop<br>Her body won't quit  
>So fool pipe down you ain't talkin bout shit<br>My chick bad, tell me if you seen her  
>She always bring the racket like Venus and Serena<br>All white top, all white belt  
>And all white jeans, body looking like milk<br>No time for games, she's full grown  
>My chick bad, tell your chick to go home<p>

My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad, better better than good  
>My my chick bad, better badder than hood<br>My my my chick bad, badder badder than yours

Now your girl might be sick but my girl sicker  
>She rides that dick and she handles her liquor<br>She knock a bitch out aaaand fight  
>Coming out swinging like Tiger Woods wife<br>Yeah she could get a little hasty  
>Chicks better cover up they chests like pasty's<br>Couple girl friends and they all a little crazy  
>Coming down the street like a parade Macy's<p>

I fill her up balloons  
>Test her and guns get drawn like cartoons<br>Doh, but I aint talkin bout homer  
>Chick so bad the whole crew wanna bone her<p>

My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad, better better than good  
>My my chick bad, better badder than hood<br>My my my chick bad, badder badder than yours

Mercedes grabbed the mic from Stevie and did her best Nicki. Both brothers stared at her with lust in their eyes. She smirked and started rapping.

Mercedes: Yo, yo now now, now, now, now all these bitches wanna try and be my bestie  
>But I take a left and leave them hanging like a teste<br>Trash talk to em then I put em in a hefty  
>Running down a court Im dunkin on them Lisa Leslie<p>

It's going down, basement, Friday the 13th guess who's playing Jason  
>Tuck yourself in you better hold on to your teddy<br>It's nightmare on Elm street and guess who's playing Freddy

Stevie: My chick bad

Mercedes: Chef cooking for me, they say my shoe game crazy  
>The mental Asylum looking for me<br>You a rookie to me  
>I'm in dat bam wam purple Lam' damn bitch you been a fan.<p>

Stevie stood up and took the mic back from her and finished the song.

Stevie: My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad  
>My chick hood<br>My chick do stuff dat yo chick wish she could

My chick bad, better better than good  
>My my chick bad, better badder than hood<br>My my my chick bad, badder badder than yours

He grinned at her. "I think we won Ms. Minaj," she rolled her eyes and laughed. He gave her a high five.

"Whatever," Sam said struggling to stand up after having another beer, "Cheaters I tell ya," he grinned and walked towards his bedroom.

Stevie turned to her and put his arm around her waist. "You were so sexy just now," he bit his lip, "did you know that?" she blushed. He moved a lock of hair out of her face and kissed her lightly. She smiled into the kiss.

"AHHHH," Sam yelled from his room. Mercedes and Stevie broke apart and ran to find him on the ground grabbing his leg.

"What happened," Mercedes knelt down to look at him.

"It's ceasing up," he was clutching it and cringing in pain.

"What's wrong with your eye Sam?" Stevie said from the doorway. Mercedes looked up at him and saw the enraged look on his face.

"What the fuck do you mean," Sam glared at his brother. Mercedes looked back and saw that his eye was twitching.

"It's probably from the pain," she answered looking up at Stevie. She looked at Sam, "I'll get your meds," she put her hand out so Stevie could pull her up. He did it but he was still staring at his older brother. She walked to the kitchen but could hear that they were talking. It sounded heated. She went back in the room to find both brothers almost snarling at each other. "What's wrong?" she said looking at Stevie.

He shook his head and walked out. She handed the bottle to Sam and left the room to follow him. He grabbed his coat and walked towards the door. "Stevie?" she grabbed his shoulder, "What's wrong?"

He turned to look at her and gave her a weak smile. He kissed her, "Nothing," he sighed, "I need to think." She was worried she did something wrong. "It's not you, don't worry"

"But you're drunk," she grabbed his hand. He rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

"I'm okay, I'll call when I get home," she nodded. He looked towards his brother's room and walked out. She went back to Sam and saw him rubbing his leg.

"You okay?" he nodded not looking at her, "You want me to massage it?" he shook his head no. "Well can I do anything for you?" he smirked and looked at her.

"Is asking for another kiss out of the question?" her eyes widened. _He must be hammered. _He looked down and chuckled, "just kidding," his eye twitched again.

"You should get that looked at," she pointed to his eye. "I'll see you tomorrow, night Sam," she turned to walk out.

"Night Mercy," she stopped but then kept on walking. _Why did I want to kiss him when he asked?_ She shook her confused head, _I need to talk to mom, she'll help me figure out my feelings. I'll just tell her that I think I'm in love with two brothers. _She sighed, _that's stupid, but she always knows what to do. _Mercedes smiled. Her mother always knew best.

Edit: This chapter is full of craziness, I hope you liked it, talk to me it makes me happy and makes me feel loved!


	11. Chapter10

Sam woke up feeling weird. He knew that he had ended the conversation the day before with Mercedes pretty badly. But as usual, he thought that he would just brush it off and roll on. But he just felt...weird. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He started to stretch his upper body but then immediately paused in mid reach. _Shit! _He squeezed his eyes shut, _it's guilt!_ Sam hadn't felt guilty about anything in a long time. The last time he felt guilty was when he accidentally ran over a bird, but then later that day he found bird poop on his car and called it even. _Guilt is bad, _he shook his head, _feeling guilty implies that I actually CARE_. He groaned. He didn't want to care. He couldn't care for her. She was just too nice for his liking. _She's always cheery and happy and beautiful...STOP THAT! _He had an inner conflict with his brain. _No she's not your type, _he slowly nodded to himself, _and you go for girls who are psychos like Quinn_. He stopped nodding, _but what if I don't want a girl like Quinn? _

Sam was frustrated and extremely confused. He never actually liked the women he was with and they never liked him. His relationships functioned on necessity and use. That was it. Quinn used him for his looks and he used her for...companionship. It was never the sex he wanted. Even though people always assumed he was some sex fanatic, which he was fine with, but he never wanted it. _What's the point of sex if you can't be happy doing it?_ Even though he had tried having sex with Quinn, he couldn't do it once he realised she was cheating on him. He regretted the day that he had decided to go visit her at her office and saw them...he saw them...Sam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to calm down. He never wanted to fall for Quinn, that wasn't how his relationships were supposed to go. But he had been excited to surprise her. And then to see that...It just confirmed for him that two people just using each other was the best way to go. That was why he couldn't fall for Mercedes.

He would never feel right using her. Mercedes was the kind of girl you wanted to carry home to your mother, the kind of girl you wanted to make smile at any possible moment, the kind of girl whose belly you wanted to put your hand on to see if you could feel your baby kick. Sam's eyes flew open, _Yep_ he smacked his head, _I fucking like her._ He put his head in his hands and decided what he needed to do. _I have two choices, one I stop liking her or two, I make it my mission to get her. _Sam squinted one eye, _make it my mission to get her? Who talks like that?_ He sighed, _I know I'm fucking amazing and everything_, he nodded to himself, _but what if there's a slightest chance that she doesn't actually want to be with me?_ He started laughing, _who am I kidding, _he smiled, _of course she'll want to be with me. _But he needed to do research first. He never actually ever had to try to make sure a woman liked him, it usually just happened.

He scooted to the end of his bed and grabbed his laptop. He typed in "how to make girls...*backspace* women like you if you're already attractive." He opened up a link, _**be funny**_ he rolled his eyes, _I'm always funny_, he looked up for a second. He realised he hadn't actually shown her that side of him. He didn't really show anyone actually, probably just Stevie. He groaned, _fine I'll rock her world with my humour._ He scrolled down the page, "Oh come on," he glared at the screen, "I have to be nice?" _who wrote this? _He rolled his eyes, _had to have been a woman. _He felt tired just thinking about all of the things he was going to have to do. He heard a knock on his door. He opened his mouth to say "leave me alone" but looked back on the screen and sighed, "Come in."

Mercedes walked into his room and just stared at him. So he stared back. _Damn she looks good, _his eyes widened, _wait, is she blushing? _He raised his eyebrow. He noticed that she looked down. He internally grinned. _I might not need to do research after all._ "Can I help you?"..._out of your clothes?_

She looked up and he felt a flutter in his stomach. "I wanted to know if you needed a massage before your appointment," _Celebrate good times come on, let's celebrate_. He was surprised. _This is going to be easier than I thought._

The blood had pretty much left his brain at the idea of a massage. All he could manage to say was "Yea." Her eyes got wide. _Man up Evans_. "Actually, that'd be good." He grinned. He was definitely excited. She walked towards him and he watched the way that she carried herself. _Kind of like a Queen...but not old and granny like. But gracefully._ He handed her his laptop and she put it down on the floor. She sat cross legged on his bed and then she looked at him. _Wow her eyes are amazing, _he could feel himself getting hot. He looked to the corner _Quick think of Wanda from in living colour._ He shuddered, _Yep that did it._ He scooted closer to her and picked up his left leg. _That really hurts. _Sam knew his leg was messed up, but he really hoped it would just heal already.

"You should be wearing your leg brace you know," she said eyeing the item in the corner. He looked over at it, rolled his eyes, and shrugged. _I'll wear it, if you wear nothing_. "I'm serious, your leg won't heal properly if you don't." He looked into her eyes, _she's worried about me,_ he sighed, _Fine_. She looked back down at his leg and he noticed that her hands had made their way to his thigh. Sam started to feel the tightness in his pants. He tried to think of anything other than what her hands were doing or what he wanted her hands to be doing. She continued to move up his leg closer to his...

He put his hand on top of hers, "That's enough," Sam could feel how hot his face was, he cleared his throat "I need to get ready for the appointment," _and I need to get rid of this pole on my leg, _he pulled his blanket over his legs. He hoped she didn't see anything but from the smile on her face he was pretty sure she did. She quickly got off the bed, nodded, and walked out the door. Sam bit his lip and rubbed his hand down his face. He was going to need a cold shower before his appointment or the doctor was going to wonder why he had three legs.

They got back from the doctor's appointment and Mercedes smirked at him. Sam scowled. He was mad because the doctor had shaken his bony old finger at him for not wearing his leg brace. He knew Mercedes was getting a kick out of being right. But he was excited that his physical therapy could start soon. He was tired of being confined to the chair. He wanted to stand up so that Mercedes could see all of him stretched and not folded over all the time. _I sound like a blanket. _He was pretty sure he wouldn't have any problems with the crutches. Like really how hard could they be? He looked at her from the corner of his eye. _Her skin looks like whipped chocolate_, he smirked, _I want to dip my strawberry in you and eat you all up_. He had been having those thoughts the entire time with her. He found it hard to look her in the eye when he did. So he just chose to sneak some glances at her and fantasize. He felt antsy. He might need to hear a special applause again on his computer. Without looking back he quickly rolled to his bedroom.

After a few hours of fun and a tired still sat in his chair staring at the screen_. That cannot be real!_ He picked up his laptop and brought it closer to his face. He had just seen a girl pick up a pop can with her damn butt and crush it without her hands. _I pray a man never does anal with her, for he will surely die._ He sighed and turned off his computer. He heard the T.V. on in the living room and decided to see what Mercedes was doing.

He saw her curled up on the couch watching the most awful show on the planet, _Maury_. Sometimes Sam was scared to kiss a random girl he didn't really know in fear that he would end up on one of these shows.

_He kissed me Maury, that baby is his!_

He shuddered. He rolled up as close as he could get to her in his chair. He stared at the T.V. and raised his eyebrow. _Does this man ever age?_ He rolled his eyes, _Paternity testing...again._ "Why do you watch this crap?" he saw her roll her eyes before she looked over at him.

"Because it's mindless entertainment," she smirked, "And not everyone wants to just watch porn, like _some people_" he quickly whipped his head in her direction. His eyes widened, _Hell, did she see me again?_ she smiled and looked back at the T.V. _Nah, she would have mentioned the can. _

He cleared his throat, "Nothing is wrong with watching porn," he smirked, _I wouldn't need to if we were together_ "I'm pretty sure the story lines are better than this pile of shit," he pointed to the television.

She rolled her eyes and stared at him, "Oh really?" _Okay Ms. Pretty_, he smirked, _wanna be feisty? I'll match that._

He looked right back at her, "Yea, really" she scoffed.

She turned her body towards him_, _"Okay Mr. Know it all" he grinned at the nickname, "What the hell do you even know about _Maury?"_

"I know enough to know that every episode is the same fucking thing," he leaned towards her. He noticed how she smelt like vanilla and cinnamon. _**Be funny**_..._and the perfect opportunity arises._ Okay, you know what," he rolled in front of her, "I will demonstrate a typical episode."

When he was done he just watched her laugh. He liked the way she laughed. She did it with her whole body unlike Quinn who looked like it would kill her to laugh out loud.

Mercedes had to catch her breath. She stared at him in awe, "That was amazing," she smiled widely. He grinned "I'm shocked," _I need to be close to you right now, _he rolled closer to her so that their knees were touching. He could see her start to blush.

"Why shocked?" her eyes widened and he noticed that she had trouble catching her breath. _Maury impersonations aka the panty dropper._

"Well you just surprised me," she smirked, "I didn't know you were funny Mr. Evans."

He gave her his best seductive smile, "I like surprising you," she looked down. _Wait did she call me Mr. Evans? Fuck, I need to fix this _"Mercedes?" She looked up at him, "I want you to call me Sam," she just nodded. He smiled and stared at her lips. _I wonder what flavour lip—_He heard the door open and turned his head towards it. _Who's at the-_

"Hello?," Stevie's voice boomed from the front of the house. "Mercedes?" _Stevie? _Sam looked at her with a confused expression on his face. _Wait, _She closed her eyes. _Why's he here for Mercedes?_

Sam sat in the living room listening. He was trying to figure out what was going on.

"Hey beautiful," _Excuse me? _"You ready?" Sam was fuming. _Ready for what? _he rolled out behind Mercedes.

"Ready for what exactly?" He looked at the discomfort on her face. _Are you fucking kidding me? You're going on a date with my little brother? _"Where are you taking my nurse, Stevie?" He raised his eyebrow. _Keep it cool Sam, don't jump the gun here._

"Well hey to you too old man," Stevie looked down at him and then at Mercedes, "I promised to take her out for a night of fun," he smiled at her, _Not if you're dead_. "I figured she's suffered enough by taking care of you and she deserves a break," _She needs a break from me?_ Sam felt upset and then extremely angry. He looked at her and glared. _Et tu Brute? _he saw her shrink back from the look. He didn't even feel bad.

She cleared her throat, "I'm sorry but I didn't know what time you were coming," she played with her ring and bit her lip, "I'm not ready." Stevie grinned at her.

"That's fine," he said walking towards her, Sam looked down "take as much time as you need," _unfuckinbelievable_, "the old man and I will just hang out and have some brotherly hatred." Sam looked up at his brother, _You don't know how right you are._ He looked to the side. He couldn't stand his brothers face at that moment. He heard her run up the stairs.

"You two are going out without me?" he asked.

"Well yea old man," Stevie laughed, "That's what we grownups call a date" he nodded. He had taught his brother well...too well apparently.

_Fuck that shit,_ "You can't take her out," Stevie glared at him, "I need her here."

"Need her for what exactly?" Stevie crossed his arms over his chest, _Just because you wear smedium shirts doesn't mean you have muscles_ _Stevie _"Sam, you're a grown ass man, you don't need her to change your diapers." _No, but you will when I cripple your ass._

"No, but I need her here in case of a medical emergency," He mirrored his brothers stance, "she's my fucking nurse, not your play thing."

"Sam," Stevie lowered his voice, "what the fuck is your problem?"He leaned closer to Sam. "I think you need to slow your _roll_," he laughed at his own pun. _Roll right over your foot, you bastard._

"I think you need to not fuck my nurse," Sam growled, _She's mine. _

Stevie scoffed, "Who the hell said I was going to try to fuck her?" Sam had never seen this side of Stevie before, "I might be related to you, but I'm _nothing_ like you" Sam raised his eyebrow "_I'm _not the one who fucks and chucks, Sam." Sam put his hands on his wheels. _I killed a bird bitch, I'm not afraid to kill again_.

"Sorry that took me so long!" Sam hadn't even noticed that she had come back. He quickly looked her over. She looked good but right now he didn't really care. He stared at his brother. He was smiling at Mercedes. Sam felt so inadequate in his chair.

"No apologies needed," she grinned sheepishly at Stevie. "I have a surprise for you," he walked back out of the house and left Mercedes and Sam alone. Sam stared after his brother. _If I roll fast enough I could lock him out. _Stevie came back into the room. _Damn. Wait why the helmet?_

"Are we going rollerblading?" Stevie laughed and shook his head.

"We're going on my motorcycle," Mercedes gasped. _NO!_

"No you're not," they both looked at him. "Something could happen to you two." Sam was legitimately worried about his brother and her.

Stevie rolled his eyes, "We'll be fine," he smiled at Mercedes and handed her the helmet. Sam stared at his brother.

"_Promise me you will always take care of your brother"_

"_Why do I have to?"_

"_Promise me Samuel!"_

"_...Okay mom ...I promise"_

"I'm serious Stevie," his younger brother faced him, "You almost got hurt before and it's my job to take care of you." Stevie's expression softened. _I might want to kill you, but I don't want you to die._

"Sam," Stevie looked at him, "I promise you, I will take care of us." He looked at Mercedes and smiled, "I won't let anything happen to this goddess over here," Sam rolled his eyes. "Alright, M'lady" Stevie held out his hand, "our hog awaits." _I can't deal with this right now._ He rolled back into his bedroom.

Sam was in the kitchen looking for something to eat when he heard it. He knew his brothers bike anywhere. He quietly rolled to the door. He could hear them laughing about something as they walked towards him. He slowly backed away just in case. But the door didn't open. He rolled back and pressed his ear against it.

"But you're shy to kiss me goodnight." Sam felt sick. He looked down at his wheelchair. He rubbed his eye and went back to the kitchen. He saw a single plate in the dish rack. He did his best to reach it and once he got it, he held it in his hands. He looked at his reflection in it and saw his red eyes. He threw the plate as hard as he could against the tiled floor. He waited.

"SAM," Stevie yelled. He waited for a moment and then rolled out of the kitchen.

"What?" he said in a sharp tone.

"What do you mean what?" Stevie said walking towards him, "we heard a shattering sound." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Yea, I know," he rolled back towards the kitchen, "I was hungry and tried to get some food and dropped a plate." He looked at Mercedes, "had I not been deserted, it wouldn't have happened." Stevie rolled his eyes and looked at Mercedes. _Shit my eye's twitching. _He looked at Stevie to make sure he couldn't see. He saw him kiss her on the cheek. _Nope the ass wipe is too preoccupied._

"Good night Cedes" Stevie looked at him, "and you" Sam raised an eyebrow, "don't be a pain." Once the door closed, Sam could see that she was looking at him but he refused to look back. _Mercy_ _you don't know it yet, but you'll be mine real soon._

"Night Sam," she turned away from him.

"Night Mercy," _Shit, did that come out_. Sam had given her the little nickname in his head. He liked calling her something different from other people.

"What did you call me?" she turned to him. He just shrugged and rolled past her to his bedroom. He smirked. _Let the games begin little brother._

It was a bittersweet moment for Sam to get his crutches. He was happy to have them, but they were a pain to navigate. He also lied to the doctor and told him his leg was further along than it was. But he didn't see the harm in it. Mercedes had tried to help him, but he decided he needed to establish his independence from her so that she saw him as a man and not just her patient. He almost fell trying to get over the threshold and she grabbed his shirt which embarrassed him.

"Don't Mercedes," he growled, "I can do this." He hadn't meant to growl at her. But he was still pretty annoyed with the fact she went out on a date with his little brother. He had planned on giving up, but then he realised he hadn't really made it clear that he was pursuing her. Considering that he hadn't been until now. Lately he caught himself staring at her and admiring her curves. He just imagined lightly dragging his finger along them. She'd always catch him doing it though, which made him feel awkward. Next thing he knew he muttered something his father had said to him when he was a child, which was true, they had a huge argument, and Mercedes just got mad and left his room in a huff. He rolled his eyes. He knew that he said a lot of things he shouldn't have, but he was frustrated with the crutches and then his leg was killing him. He got up as quickly as his leg would let him and hopped after her.

"Mercedes wait," she turned around to face him. He felt his leg get caught behind one of his crutches. _Timberrr. _Mercedes ran to him and caught him around the waist. _Oh_ He was leaning on her with his crutches awkwardly surrounding her sides. His hair, which had grown out since the accident, fell into his face which was inches away from hers. They were so close he could almost taste her lip gloss. She looked up into his eyes and he couldn't catch his breath. He looked down at her plump lips but suddenly realised why he couldn't catch his breath. _Oh my God_ he said trying to breathe, _she has a grip of an anaconda_. He really wanted to kiss her, but decided that air was the better choice. He licked his lips and saw her eyes close.

"Mercedes" he whispered with the little breath he had remaining. "You're crushing my waist." she opened her eyes and quickly let go and she put her hand on his chest to help him stand up properly. He gave her a weird look, _Don't worry Mercy, _he grinned, _it's going to happen soon_ "I'm sorry," he muttered. She stared at him surprised. _Now let's make babies._

"Sorry what was that?" she cupped her ear with her hand. He panicked thinking that he said his thoughts out loud and then realised what she was doing. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said more clearly. She grinned.

"Sorry for what?" she smirked. He gave her side eye and sighed.

"I'm sorry for...," he shook his head, "Please don't make me do this."

"Oh you're going to do this," she laughed, "Sorry for what?"

He avoided looking at her eyes and sighed again, "I'm sorry for not letting you be my friend."

"and..." _What else did I do?_

"and what?" he was confused.

"You were an asshole Sam," she folded her arms across her chest.

"Yea, but I can't apologise for who I am" he gave her a serious look and then smiled. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine good enough," she smirked, "for now." He smiled at her. _I like the sound of that._

"You should do that more often," she grinned.

"What, apologise to people?" he shook his head, "It's extremely rare for me to do that." _Only for people I care about._

She laughed, "I don't doubt that," he nodded_._ "But I meant you smiling." He shrugged and smirked.

"It's extremely rare for me to do that too," she rolled her eyes, shook her head, and grinned_._ Just then they heard the doorbell ring. _Just in time. _He looked at her confused and she walked over to the door with him slowly hopping behind her. He smirked. _Let the games begin._

Mercedes opened the door, "Oh hell no," Quinn pushed herself in the door, "You need to get the hell out."

Quinn picked some lint off of her dress, "Sam," she smiled at him, "Please call your bitch off of me." Mercedes' hand was about to fly up when Sam grabbed it. _This bitch would have a lawsuit on you yesterday._ She looked at him and he shook his head no. She quickly grabbed her hand back from him. "I've missed you baby," she said walking closer to him. He put his hand out for her to stop. _I've been waiting for this._

"Don't touch me," He was livid, all of his emotions from that day rested on his chest. "What do you want?" Quinn's smile didn't falter. She had texted him earlier and he had ignored it. She texted him again saying that they needed to speak. He figured he might as well kill two birds with one stone. He knew Quinn well and he knew her fighting was dirty. He just had to wait for her to say the right thing before he could execute his plan with Mercedes.

"I'm here to see the love of my life of course." She cocked her head to the side, "You almost died for me babe." Sam tried really hard not to laugh. She put her hand to her chest. "That's the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me." he laughed, he just couldn't help himself.

"I needed to get my car keys back from you." He shook his head, "Trust me, it was nothing more than that." Her smile fell. _Now you know the truth._

"You're lying," she said glaring at Mercedes.

"I threw my keys to you," he shrugged, "If I didn't want to waste money taking a cab, I would have never run after you."

Quinn looked down and then smiled. "Well then," she cleared her throat, "I wish you had died." Sam's eyes widened. He saw Mercedes tried to sneak off from the corner of his eye and pulled her back. _Sorry Ms. Jones I need you here._

"Sorry sweet heart," he smiled, "I'm alive and well." He stood a little taller with the help of his crutches, He tried to hide the discomfort in his leg. "By the way," his smile fell. He had been waiting for this moment for awhile, "You still fucking your boss Quinn?"..._You musty bitch._ Quinn started to turn red, "Because I know you were fucking him when we were together, so I was just curious if you were still a hoe?" Quinn looked away and then smiled back at him.

"Yea I am," _Not surprised, _"thanks for asking," Quinn said in a calm voice and shrugged, "It's not like your parts ever worked anyways." _Shit,_ "They never worked before and I'm sure as hell they don't work now." She looked over at Mercedes. "I never had a real orgasm all year."Sam began to panic_._ This wasn't part of the plan. He felt his face get hot. He was fuming. Quinn smiled at her handiwork. "Isn't that right Sammy?" He didn't know how to explain this to Mercedes.

"Well that's funny," Mercedes smiled, "Because, I've had multiple since we met," Sam looked at her from the corner of his eye. _Yep, I'm going to marry this woman_ "Sam's a beast in bed," She put her hand on his back. Quinn looked at the two of them and then laughed.

"Please," she put her hand on her hip, "Sam was never into bestiality." _Perfect, knew I could count on you for something Quinn._

"Fuck you Quinn," Sam leaned on his crutch but never broke eye contact with her. "For your information," he looked over at Mercedes, "She called me hot wheels and rode me all night." _Man, I'm creative as hell, _Quinn gave him a disgusted look. "Now that I'm on crutches," he smirked, "she calls me tiny Tim."

"Oh but trust me," Mercedes smiled up at Sam, "there is _nothing_ tiny about his Tim." _Yep, this is the mother of my children, _Quinn scoffed and looked down at Sam's crotch and then back up.

"I don't believe a thing you're saying," She folded her arms over chest and smirked, "Sam would never go for someone like you."_I KNEW YOU'D SAY THAT!_ What he regret the most was the hurt on Mercedes' face. _I'll fix this real quick, don't worry Mercy._

"Yea," Sam smiled, "You're right, I would never go for a girl like Mercedes." He needed Quinn to feel like she was right about something for a couple of seconds before he made her look stupid. He felt Mercedes pull away from him. But just as quickly he reached out and grabbed her around her waist and tugged her to him. He put his face inches away from hers and looked at Quinn, "Girls like her are way out of my league." He licked his lips and kissed her the way he always imagined doing it. He slid his tongue across her lips and she willingly opened them. _Fuck._ He tried controlling his emotions. He didn't think taking her on the floor was a respectable thing to do. But if she wanted it...then consider him naked. He slid his hand lower on her waist to her ass and lightly caressed the hills of glory. She sucked on his lip and Sam's good leg almost buckled. He moaned. He felt his body scream for release. _Shit, I'm out of practice. _He heard the door slam and stopped kissing her. He hadn't wanted to, but he needed to leave her wanting for more. And when she was ready for it, he'd be there to give it to her. He kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose.

"Well thanks for helping me with that," he let her go. He saw the confusion on her face and tried not to smirk, "Sorry if I made you awkward with the kiss," Mercedes stared at him with her mouth open. _Don't jump the gun Mercy, we'll get to that soon, _"I was scared you would slap me," he smiled at her sheepishly. She still gaped at him, "Well see you at dinner then." He hopped away humming _Ding dong the witch is dead_.

Sam was working on some cases in his bedroom when he heard Stevie's voice outside. _Back for round two _He smiled and walked into the foyer. He spotted the _Rock Band _and booze on the ground. He smirked. "Who's getting wasted?"

"All of us," Stevie smiled and picked up the goodies and walked into the living room. "Nice crutches by the way," he said over his shoulder. Sam hopped into the living room and winked at Mercedes. _This is going to be fun._

Sam sat down next to his brother. But all he could see was Mercy swinging her hips and rapping like Nicki Minaj. If his leg was alright, he'd throw her over his shoulder and run to his room. _Mmm damn she's so sexy as Nicki, _Sam licked his lips, _mhmm I'd give it to all of her personalities...well except for Roman, that'd just be weird_. He placed his hands over his lap and just imagined them all over her._ Uh, I like it like that, she working that back, I don't know how to act, slow motion for me._ He shook his head,_ I really need to stop watching BET. _ When she was done, she stood close enough to him that he could touch her if he wanted to. And he definitely wanted to. _Stick to the plan man!_ His drunken brain told him. When Stevie finished rapping he walked towards Mercedes and Sam glared at him.

He grinned at her. "I think we won Ms. Minaj," she rolled her eyes and laughed. He gave her a high five.

"Whatever," Sam said struggling to stand up after having another beer, _Play it off cool and walk to your room, _"Cheaters I tell ya," he grinned and walked towards his bedroom. _Good. _He walked slowly and listened to the conversation.

"You were so sexy just now," Sam rolled his eyes "did you know that?" Sam reached his room and threw his crutches to the side. _Fuck the police... I mean Fuck Stevie! _He grabbed his head, _Too much booze. _He yelled and grabbed his leg.

They both ran to his room, "What happened," Mercedes knelt down to look at him.

"It's ceasing up," he was clutching it and cringing in pain.

"What's wrong with your eye Sam?" Stevie said from the doorway. Sam looked at his brother and saw the enraged look on his face. _Shit, my eye._ He was so tipsy he hadn't felt it twitch and he forgot he could never lie to Stevie.

"What the fuck do you mean," Sam glared at his brother. _Nice that will throw him off. _Mercedes looked at his face.

"It's probably from the pain," she said to Stevie. _Yea what Mercy said. _She looked at Sam, "I'll get your meds," she put her hand out so Stevie could pull her up. He did it but he was still staring at Sam. She left the room.

"What the fuck are you doing Sam?" Sam shrugged. His brother moved closer to him,"Listen to every single word I say," Sam smiled, "Don't you ever touch her again." Sam raised his eyebrow. _Good he knows._

Sam smiled, "And what the fuck will you do Stevie?" his younger brother glared at him, "I've given you every fucking thing you ever asked me for," Sam's voice got louder, "and I'd do anything for you because your my little brother," Sam sat up straighter, "But I won't let you have her,"

Stevie scoffed, "You won't _let _me?"

Sam laughed, "Well, you can try to make her love you," his face became serious, "But you know she won't." Stevie's face fell. "I won't stop fighting for her and you know I always get what I want" Stevie looked like he was ready to pounce. Sam was ready for him.

She walked back into the room, "What's wrong?" she said looking at Stevie.

He shook his head and walked out. She handed the bottle to Sam and left the room to follow him. Sam felt sick. He hated fighting with Stevie. But it was a fight he willingly accepted. He still couldn't shake the bad feelings from his chest. He rubbed his leg. It actually was hurting. He looked at it. It didn't look too good.

She walked back in.

"You okay?" he nodded not looking at her, "You want me to massage it?" he shook his head no. "Well can I do anything for you?" he smirked and looked at her.

"Is asking for another kiss out of the question?" her eyes widened. Her surprised look worried him_. _He looked down and chuckled, "just kidding," his eye twitched again. _I'm buying a damn eye patch._

"You should get that looked at," she pointed to his eye. "I'll see you tomorrow, night Sam," she turned to walk out.

"Night Mercy," she stopped walking for a moment and he secretly hoped she would stay. She continued to walk out. _Shit, _Sam stopped rubbing his leg, _did I read her wrong?_

_EDIT: I needs to know what you think! Lol Leave me love!_


	12. Chapter 11

_A/N: this chapter won't have any Meevie, EvBro, or Samcedes interactions, it is mainly to understand what Stevie's going to do with the situation and it will lead us into the flashback chapter which I have decided will be next._

_Hey are you okay? We haven't really spoken for a few days. You left in such a hurry and I just feel like there's a lot on your mind. Please call me if anything. I miss you 3 Mercedes_. Stevie looked at the text message for the fiftieth time and put his phone down. He had been trying to figure out how to reply to her but he had no idea what he should say. He rubbed his forehead and sat down on his couch. He closed his eyes and pictured her smile. He honestly thought that was her best feature, well apart from her obvious other _ass_ets. But he was extremely conflicted. How could he fight his brother, the only real family he had ever had, for someone he had just met? Yet, in his heart he knew Mercedes meant more to him than that. He knew from the very moment that he had met her, that there was something beautiful about her. The way she had spoken about taking care of others and about her loss, had just pulled him to her.

Their date had been amazing. Stevie had felt so comfortable with her that he had even pretended that she was his wife. He knew it was extremely farfetched and could be interpreted as creepy but he loved the idea of having his own family. He had had two in his life and they had both been tragically snatched away from him. He couldn't lose Sam too. His older brother was all he had ever known or remembered. Sometimes Stevie had nightmares about the fire that had killed his parents, _Run Stevie get out of here! Run!_ He would hear Sam yell at him as he turned to run into a dark room. Stevie always woke up in a cold sweat and threw up. He was happy he didn't remember much and often wondered how Sam dealt with it. His foster parents had taken him to a psychiatrist and determined that he had repressed his memories as a safety mechanism. His foster parents always seemed to be waiting for him to suddenly remember and just snap. But he never did. Sam on the other hand always remained quiet during his sessions. He refused to speak much about anything to anyone, including Stevie.

Stevie groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. _What the fuck do I do?_ He would love more than anything to start a serious relationship with Mercedes in a heartbeat. Not just joking around and little pecks on the lips, but the real deal. He wanted to roll over in bed and gently caress her face as she slept. He wanted to quietly sneak out to the kitchen every morning and make her a feast. But how would he handle losing his brother in order to get a woman? Just thinking about Sam hating him made him feel sick. As much as he wanted to break Sam's other leg, he couldn't lose the most important person in his life. But he suddenly realised that Mercedes was becoming that important person for him too. He picked up his phone and dialed.

"Where have you been?" the woman loudly answered the phone. "I haven't heard from you since Noah built the Ark."

"I'm sorry," Stevie shook his head, "I've just been busy and thinking about a lot," he hesitated, "Can I please come over?"

"Stevie of course," the woman's voice decreased in volume. "You better be staying for dinner"

Stevie laughed, "Yes mom," he smiled, "I'll stay for dinner."

Stevie sat down at the kitchen table in his foster parent's house. His foster mother, Diane, walked away from the counter and handed him a steaming cup of coffee. His foster father Joe sat at the table with Stevie and read some local news on his new tablet. Diane looked over at her husband and rolled her eyes before she also sat down.

"Why did you buy that thing for your father Stevie?" her husband looked up and gave her an annoyed glance. He looked over at Stevie, smiled, and then looked back down at the tablet. "I have been replaced by a flat touch screen thingy," she pointed to the item. Stevie smiled and sipped his coffee. He loved his foster parents. He couldn't imagine not having them in his life.

Joe stroked the side of the tablet, "its okay Bertha," he looked at the tablet lovingly, "She just doesn't understand you like I do," he smiled at his wife but spoke to the tablet, "I think she's just jealous." Diane scoffed at the same time that Stevie burst out laughing.

"Well Bertha can't give you all the things you need," Diane stared at her husband, "Now can she Joe?" Stevie choked on his coffee and made a disgusted face.

"Well if you're referring to sex," his dad smiled smugly at her. "Then you'd be correct," Diane smiled back at him triumphantly, "But I don't get that from you either so it doesn't really matter," Diane's face fell, "plus she tells me the news, which you don't, so I still choose Bertha."

"Can we please not talk about this," Stevie grimaced, "I just ate." His mother reached over and patted his hand.

"Well, what happened," she sipped her coffee and got up to get milk out of the fridge. Stevie waited for her to sit back down before he began.

"Sam and I are fighting," Diane had a sympathetic look on her face.

"How is your brother doing since the accident?" she inquired.

Stevie shrugged. This was not the conversation he had hoped to have. "He's healing I guess, but right now I wouldn't care if his leg fell off," Joe laughed but still stared at the tablet, which made Stevie unsure if he was laughing at his comment or at something he was reading. "We're fighting over his nurse." Joe immediately looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What about his nurse?" Diane looked confused.

"She's absolutely amazing and beautiful," he sighed, "And Sam's trying to take her away from me." Diane's eyes widened. "She's not technically mine, like we're not dating, but we've been on a date."

"You and your brother both have the hots for a nurse?" Joe slowly smiled, "Do you have any pictures of said nurse?"

"Joseph!" Diane gave him a threatening glare. "Do you want me to 'accidentally' dye your clothes pink again?" He scowled at her. She turned back to Stevie, "How much do you like her?"

"I like her a lot," he blushed, "Well maybe more than a lot." He sighed, "But what am I supposed to do? I can't lose Sam," he shook his head, "He's my only brother." Joe rolled his eyes. He didn't really care much for Sam because he had always been introverted and rude to him whenever he got the chance. Stevie couldn't understand why. Joe had always been an outgoing caring father figure to both of them, but from the very beginning Sam had kept him at bay. When it came to Diane, Sam had been a lot more receptive to her efforts, although he still kept her at a distance too. Stevie and Sam would get into a lot of fights over it, he would tell Sam that he needed to show them respect. Sam was adamant that he did show them respect, but he just wasn't going to go out of his way to love them. To him they were not his real family and he wasn't going to pretend that they were.

"Well that is true," She smiled sadly at Stevie, "He is your only blood relative in the world, but you will always have us."

"And Bertha," Joe muttered.

"Joseph Michael Wallace! You better pray that I do not pour my coffee on your God damned toy!" She held her coffee cup threateningly and Joe put his hand up in defeat. "So, how does this woman feel about you?"

"I think she likes me a lot. We had an amazing time on that date I told you about,"

"Did you put your pickle in her jar?" Joe looked at Stevie with wide eyes. Diane slowly turned towards her husband and pointed to the door. "I'll be good!" he looked back down at his tablet and smiled. Stevie just laughed.

"No, I didn't put my pickle into anything." He sighed, "Mom she's funny and caring, definitely not Sam's type." He sipped his lukewarm coffee. "But I just wonder if I should back off and let him have her." He shrugged, "I want to be with her...I haven't wanted anything as much since I was with Angela." A look of anger crossed her eyes.

"Don't mention that harlots name in this house Stevie," Stevie nodded. He forgot how attached his mom had gotten to Angela and Sarah. She had broken down crying when he had told her what had happened.

"Oh sorry I forgot," she slowly nodded, "I don't know what I can do, either way someone's going to get hurt, and I could lose Sam anyways."

Joe looked at him."Sam has always been one beer short of a six pack," Diane rolled her eyes at her husband's comment, "he's one sandwich short of a picnic, a few cards short of a deck, the lights are on but no one's home..."

"Didn't you just promise to be good?" she interrupted him.

"I never promised and I also lied," Joe looked at Stevie and smiled, "You need to fight for her,"

"But what do I do about Sam?"

"You and your brother are two old men," he put his tablet down, "You will always love each other at the end of your stupid arguments," he picked the tablet back up, "Trust me I've seen you two fight over a damned Twinkie once when you were kids," he shook his head, "you would swear we never fed you guys."

"Your brother has always looked out for you," Diane said and looked over at her husband, "From the moment we picked you two up from child protective services we could see how much he had a claim over you." She smiled sadly, "it was scary at first how protective he was, he wouldn't even let us hug you for very long." Stevie nodded. He knew Sam had always been extra protective over him, but he had never known any different. "And if this woman cares for you as much as you care for her then why even be worried."

"I don't know." But Stevie did know. He saw the way she sometimes looked at Sam. It was as if she was trying to uncover his soul with just her eyes. It made him uncomfortable to watch, but then she would look at Stevie and her face would light up. He tried to ignore the feeling of jealousy that he felt when he saw her look at Sam that way, but it always stayed in his mind. Then he started noticing Sam's attitude becoming more negative towards him and he was confused as to why. He had always tried to help Sam as much as Sam had helped him. But when his older brother tried to forbid him from taking out Mercedes, Stevie knew for sure that he was interested in her. Especially when they had come home from their date and Sam had lied about accidentally breaking the plate. Stevie had seen his eye and immediately knew what he had done. But he chose not to acknowledge it considering that Mercedes had shown a definite interest in him on their date and she seemed to really enjoy the kiss. But then she told him how Sam had kissed her and it took every ounce of his strength not to leave his office and beat his brother to a bloody pulp. However, he felt it was a good sign that she had felt the need to tell him that it had happened.

"Then everything will be perfectly fine," she smiled at him, "Knowing your brother he will throw a tantrum and say many death threats," she laughed, "but at the end of the day, you will always be his little brother Stevie." He slowly nodded.

_I'm going to do it! _"I'm going to fight for her until I get her," he laughed, "She probably doesn't even want to be around Sam aside from her job," he looked worried, "Maybe I should find him a new nurse for the last couple of weeks of his rehabilitation."

"That's definitely a good idea," Joe finally said after some time, "That way you can butter her muffin without Sam interrupting all of the fun," Diane reached over and smacked her husband in the back of the head. "Damnit woman!" he glared at her, "This is exactly why Bertha doesn't like you." Stevie laughed as he looked at his foster parents bicker. _There's no fight needed, _he smiled, _Mercedes would never like an arrogant man like Sam and when he figures that out he'll leave her alone and then we can all move past this._ He nodded to himself, _I'm going to start looking for a new nurse tomorrow._

_Edit: Please review, I love to hear your thoughts on the characters and I want to know who you want Cedes to end up with and why?_


	13. Chapter 12

_A/N: This is a flashback chapter so that we see the environment that Sam and Stevie grew up in. The next chapter will be crap loads of Samcedes so get ready for the unfolding drama. I also wanted to mention that once Mercy's Heart is done, I will begin writing a story called Divine Conflict, which is about a Demon named Mercedes and an Angel named Sam, who fight over the soul of a young teenage boy. It's going to be pretty insane, not sure how it will turn out lol_

Gabriella Wazowski met her husband Robert Evans when she was seventeen years old. She had been an outgoing young woman who wished to be any and everything she could possibly be. For as long as she could remember, she had been in and out of the foster system her entire life since her mother had given her up at a young age. The families who had taken her in thought she was a good kid, but they always stated that they did not have the resources to keep her and she would always end up right back in the system. She eventually became tired of being thrown out of homes, so she decided to run away and live on her own. The idea of home had never been a part of her life, neither was the idea of family. On the other hand, wandering around alone was something she had always known and was very familiar with. It was how she had met Robert. When she was working at a small diner outside of town, he had come in with his motorcycle helmet and his leather jacket. She couldn't see his face at first but something about him had caught her eye. He had seated himself in front of the counter and had taken off his helmet to reveal dirty blonde hair that reached the bottom of his ears. His eyes were a bright green, which rivaled Gabriella's deep blue ones. He was absolutely and completely handsome. He reminded her of the super hero Thor. She had stared at him for what she felt like was an eternity before he eventually put down his menu and looked over at her. Another waitress Mindy, a friend of Gabriella's, quickly rushed over to serve him. Even while the other woman took his order he still looked at Gabriella. She blushed and walked to the kitchen, so that she could avoid the intense stare of the blonde man. Mindy entered the kitchen about five minutes later with a pout on her face. She handed Gabriella her notepad and pencil.

"He wants you to serve him," she said placing her hand on her hip.

Gabriella flushed, "What?"

"After he finished saying his order, I asked him if he wanted anything else," she scowled, "he said yea, I want the blonde woman who went into the kitchen to serve me." she rolled her eyes, "pretty rude if you ask me, but you better get his order." Having delivered her message, Mindy turned around and walked back into the dining area. Gabriella just stared at the doors with her hands shaking as she held the pad and pencil. She bit her plump lips, a nervous habit she had always had growing up. She relayed the order to the cook and tried to control her breathing. She looked at her reflection in a clean pan and grimaced. Her face was oily and she had gotten a large pimple on her forehead that day. _Well great, _she sighed, _I look like a damn unicorn._ She mustered up her nonexistent courage and went back into the dining area and saw the man looking around.

"Hi," she said shyly, he turned to look at her and grinned, "Your order is being prepared."

"Thank you..."he looked at her name tag, "Gabriella" she felt her face growing hot and she knew she was blushing. He raised an eyebrow and smiled a perfectly white smile at her. She felt her legs grow weak. She quickly nodded and walked back into the kitchen so that she didn't collapse in front of the handsome stranger. Gabriella couldn't recall ever having that reaction to a man before, but he didn't seem like just any ordinary man. When his order was ready, she brought it out to him. He thanked her again and started eating. She busied herself with other customers for the duration of his time in the diner and watched him as he got up and left. She slightly felt like she had lost her favourite toy. But the next day the handsome stranger came back, but this time Gabriella took his order instead of Mindy who immediately gave him a dirty look when he walked in. The pattern continued for a month, and with every visit Gabriella learned more about him. She found out that his name was Robert Evans and that he often worked as a mechanic. He didn't like staying in one place for very long and had no family. She was surprised to find out how much she could relate to him. He told her that he was twenty four and was planning on moving to Ohio next. Gabriella was heartbroken at the news. She didn't want to lose him in her life, even though she hardly knew him. A few days after he had told her he was leaving, he came into the diner but did not sit down. She came out from the kitchen and smiled at him.

"Gabriella," he gave her a serious look, "I need to speak to you." Her smile fell and she began to worry. She put up her finger to indicate "just a minute" and went to the back to ask her boss if she could have five minutes to go speak to a friend. Once she had been granted permission, she went back out into the diner and followed Robert outside. For a moment he just stared at her and then grabbed her and kissed her hard. Her body went into shock, but she immediately welcomed the kiss. "I'm leaving tonight." Gabriella bit her lip and looked at the ground so that he wouldn't see her tear up. "I want you to come with me."

She gasped, "I c-can't" she shook her head, "I can't leave my job."

"I promise that I will take care of you," he put his finger under her chin, "I will take care of the both of us." She bit her lip, "We will travel everywhere and anywhere, just you and me and no one else," he smiled. "Forever." She knew it was insane and she knew that she hardly knew this man outside of what she had learned from his visits, but she slowly nodded and smiled. He picked her up and spun her around as they laughed together. "Alright lets go then." He held her hand and led her to his bike. She stopped in her tracks.

"But what about my stuff?" her eyes widened, "and I need to tell my boss that I'm leaving." He kissed her again.

"Don't worry about them and we can go pick up your stuff now," she folded her arms over her chest.

"And put it all where?" she was starting to regret her decision. A look of anger entered his eyes.

"Forget it," he let go of her hand, "You obviously don't want to go." He turned to walk away.

She panicked, "Robert!" he stopped but didn't look at her, "My stuff doesn't matter." She walked towards him, "I can just grab some essential things and then let's go." He smiled back and held out his hand to her. Their journey was about to begin.

A year later, Gabriella was getting tired of the travelling but it seemed like her husband never wanted to stop. She was frustrated at not always having a nice bed to sleep on at night and slightly wished for some stability in their relationship. However, she would never voice such thoughts out loud to Robert because of his temper. They had gotten married four months into their journey because he had said that he wanted to make her his forever and only his. He also made it very clear to her that he never wanted children.

The thought of never having kids depressed her. She had always loved babies and children. She had never had a family of her own so she deeply wanted to start one with Robert, but he had threatened to leave her if she ever did. However, despite her best efforts not to conceive, she eventually did. She was secretly thrilled at being pregnant but Robert blew up and trashed the place they had been staying in. He left her alone for a week with no contact information to find him or any money. She began to panic and started looking for a job. But he returned to her just as quickly. She was livid with him but didn't have the heart to tell him to leave. She needed him as much as he needed her. Fortunately, he had a background with mechanics and quickly found a job. Gabriella managed to find waitressing work again. They rented a bungalow near the restaurant that Gabriella worked at. In order to make ends meet she had to work up until the day her water broke.

She gave birth to a beautiful little baby boy with bright blonde tufts of hair on his head. He had the most stunning green eyes like his father. She counted his little toes and smelled his skin. She completely and entirely loved her new born baby. When she looked up at her husband's face, the anger and jealousy that she found there as he stared at their son scared her. She should have known then that Robert Evans was not the man he used to be. He would soon become a man who despised his children for taking away his wife and his desired freedom.

Samuel Andrew Evans, was probably the only person in the world who could vividly remember his childhood from the age of six onwards. To him it was a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because he was able to remember everything about his mother. He could remember her smile, that looked a lot like his, and he could remember her love for him and his little brother Stevie. He remembered the days she would come home with some left over treats from the restaurant and smile a tired smile at them as they ate it and enjoyed. He could remember snuggling into her side as she read him bed time stories about mystical creatures that he whole heartedly believed were real at the time. He could remember how tired she was every day, but he could hear her up late at night walking around because she was unable to sleep.

Most of all, Sam remembered a lot about his father. He remembered falling down on the sidewalk while playing outside and crying. He looked up at his father who watched him and never blinked an eye. If Sam could recall properly, he saw his father grin at his son's pain. He remembered trying to hug his father, only to have him yell at him to go to his room. He could not remember a time when his father didn't have a beer in his hand. It was if the two were forever connected. But Sam sometimes liked when his dad drank beer. It was the only time his father ever spoke to him or was remotely kind to him because he was usually asking him to get one out of the fridge for him. It was also a blessing because once his father polished off a case, he would pass out and be pretty much dead to the rest of the world. Sam could remember playing a game with Stevie to see what things they could do to wake up their dad. After two years of trying, they realised that nothing could wake him up once he got to that state. This was the time that the brothers valued so that they could have their mother all to themselves without their father yelling at her or berating her. It was a time for them to do their best to make her happy and smile.

Sam could also remember protecting his little brother at every moment that he needed to. Six year old Sam was playing cars with his little four year old brother in the living room when Stevie asked Sam for a cookie.

"Sam bam," Sam looked up at the sound of his nickname. "Can I haves a cookie?" Sam looked towards the kitchen at the counter. "Remember mama said we could have one before lunch?" Sam nodded his head and stood up.

"Hmm okays Stevie," he quickly walked to the foot stool in the kitchen and pushed it over to the counter. He stood up on it and stretched his little hand to reach the cookie jar.

"SAMUEL!" his father yelled. Sam jumped at the voice and stared at the blonde, yet balding, overweight man before him. "What are you doing?" Robert slowly walked towards his older son.

"I...," Sam looked over at his little brother who had started crying. "I wanted a cookie," his father raised his eyebrow, "Mama said I could have one."

"Did _I_ say you could have one?" Sam slowly shook his head no and avoided his father's gaze. "Those are my cookies and you need my permission to eat one," he stood closer to Sam, "Do you understand Sam?" Sam nodded. "If you want a cookie you have to earn a cookie, you have to work your butt off every day to get one," he took the cookie jar, "Nothing in life is free!" with that his father walked away and went back into his room with the jar. Sam looked up and saw Stevie walking towards him. His little brother put out his hand to help Sam off the stool.

"You know what's better than cookies Stevie?" Stevie wiped his wet eyes and shook his head no, "Water's yummy too," Sam pushed the stool to the sink and grabbed a sippy cup for his brother. He put the tap on and filled up the small cup and handed it to Stevie. Stevie took a sip. "We can pretend that it's anything we want!" Stevie smiled and nodded. "We can pretend it's a milkshake!" Sam got a cup of water for himself and stepped down from the stool. He took his little brothers hand and they walked back into the living room. When their mother came home from a long gruelling day of work, Sam chose not to tell her what happened and continued to play games with his brother.

Sam and Stevie grew up very close as children because they were pretty much all each other had. They didn't get along well with the kids at their school. Sam mostly kept to himself and Stevie followed in his brother's footsteps. But when Sam was ten and Stevie was eight, Stevie had picked up a bad habit of playing with fire. Sam walked into their bedroom and caught his younger brother sitting by the window lighting matches.

"Stevie!" Stevie jumped. "You know you're not supposed to play with matches." The younger Evans shrugged. "I'm serious I'll tell mom."

"I'm not hurting anyone Sam!" his brother yelled back. He lit another match, "Just look at it," he stared at the flame in awe, "look how it just bounces around and how the heat makes your hand all warm." He sighed, "It's so pretty." Sam walked over to the window and grabbed the rest of the matches, "HEY THOSE ARE MINE," Stevie lunged at Sam but Sam was faster. "GIVE ME THOSE!"

"NO" Sam yelled back, "These are dangerous Stevie," he crossed his arms over his chest. Sam and his mother had confiscated ten match books in total from the blue eyed boy. "Where are you getting these?"

Stevie rolled his eyes, "Why would I tell you!"

"Because I'm going to beat them up for giving them to you,"

"Who said someone _gave _them to me?"

Sam's eyes widened, "So now you're stealing,"

"You can't steal things that are free!"

"You know there's no such thing as free," Sam paused, "Everyone has to work for something, nothing in life is free," he echoed his father's words. "If dad found out what you were doing he'd beat you."

Stevie had a hint of fear on his face, "Please don't tell dad!"

"I won't if you stop lighting things on fire." Sam stared at his brother.

Stevie pouted, "That was an accident!" he looked to the side, "And it was in a bowl."

"Yea my sock accidentally caught on fire in a bowl," he gave his brother side eye and rolled his eyes. "I'm giving these to mom."

Stevie flung himself on his bed, "I hate you!"

"I don't care, I'm still telling mom," he walked out of the room. The truth was that he did care and it hurt him a lot to have Stevie say that. But he knew that something was wrong with Stevie, deeper than a fascination with fire. He had become a lot more withdrawn and he was doing badly in school. He didn't want to play with Sam anymore and Sam often caught him staring into space for hours. It scared him. He had never seen Stevie like that before. It mostly started when the boys would get spanked by their dad. For Sam it hurt but he usually went to a happy place when it happened, Stevie on the other hand could be heard screaming and crying. Their mother fought their dad nonstop to stop beating them, but he always said "what doesn't kill them will make them stronger." Sam often thought his father was determined to kill them but couldn't figure out a way to do it without their mother finding out. So he just settled on making them get into trouble for things like leaving the toothpaste cap off. It only happened when their mom wasn't home otherwise she struck their father on the face if he got out of line with her or her sons. Sam walked into the kitchen to see his mother take three sleeping pills, or as she called them, horse tranquillizers.

"Hey Sammy boy," she smiled a tired smile at him. He held out the match book and for a second she was confused. But the next moment she was angry. "Again?" she shook her head, "I'm going to have to tell your dad."

"Mom, please don't tell him," Sam didn't want his brother to be spanked, especially by their dad. She looked sad and extended her arms out to her son. He walked into them and hugged her.

"Something's wrong with Stevie, Sam," he let her hug him tightly, "He's been acting so strange lately and your dad needs to know about it." Sam sighed. "I won't tell him until tomorrow." Sam slowly nodded. She let out a loud body shaking yawn. Sam hated that she had to take the pills every night in order to sleep. He knew that she was so worried about money, and her family that it kept her up late. Sometimes she had to take four of the pills just to make sure she could not be awoken through the night. She pulled Sam out of the hug to look at him. "Sam, promise me you will always take care of your brother"

He made a face. "Why do I have to?"

"Promise me Samuel!"

Sam was startled by her raised voice. It was just something she never did, even when she was mad."...Okay mom ...I promise" she nodded and bit her lip.

"I just want to make sure that you two will always look out for each other," she smiled a sad smile and looked at Sam's worried expression, "Don't worry I'm not going anywhere for a long time though." She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Sam slowly smiled.

Later that night Sam and Stevie sat in their living room watching television. They heard the front door open and stared at each other. They could hear him walk into the bathroom. Not very long after their father walked into the room and glared at his two sons.

"Which one of you left the cap off of the toothpaste?" Sam knew it wasn't him. He always made extra sure that he never left it off. He looked at his brother from the corner of his eye and saw that he was shaking. Their dad zoned in on Stevie and slowly, but drunkenly walked towards him, "It was you wasn't it?" he smiled a small grin, "get the belt."

"It was me!" Sam stood up. Their father looked confused for a moment and then smiled even wider. Sam knew that most of his father's hatred was directed to him because he had been born first. But a lot of the times he saw his father bully Stevie because he always showed fear, which Sam had learned from a very young age not to. Showing fear just gave their father more satisfaction that Sam didn't want to give him.

"Oh was it now?" he laughed, "Should have known." He suddenly looked around. "Where's your mother?" Sam just stared at the man before him and shrugged. His father gave him a dirty look and walked towards the bedroom. He came back smiling. "Good your mother is passed out." He pointed towards Sam's bedroom. Sam quickly looked over at Stevie and saw that he was crying. He was shaking his head no. Sam gave his brother a small smile and walked towards the bedroom.

After the spanking Sam laid on his stomach on the bed. His butt didn't hurt him too badly but it was sore enough that he couldn't lie on his back. He heard Stevie walk in and felt him crawl up on Sam's bed.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sam heard him say. From the way his voice had been muffled Sam could only assume that his brother was lying behind him and facing the opposite direction. "You should have let me get spanked instead," he sniffed.

"It's okay Stevie," he clung to his pillow.

"Love you big bro," he heard his younger brother say quietly.

"Love you too little bro," The brothers lay there silently until they both fell asleep.

Sam woke up coughing and found it very difficult to breathe. He continued to cough as he looked around his room which was partially smoke filled. He turned to his sleeping brother and shook him. "STEVIE GET UP!" Stevie immediately jolted out of his sleep and started coughing as well.

"Sam!" his brother looked at him scared, "What's happening?"

"I don't know!" Sam jumped out of bed and flung open his door to see the hot fire that was destroying the front of their house. Sam's eyes widened. _Mom. _He quickly ran the short distance to the other bedroom and found his parents sleeping in bed. He was coughing harder and the fire was making it's way to the rooms. He went up to his sleeping mother and shook her. "MOM YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! MOM!" he shook the woman but she remained sleeping. He tried pulling her out of the bed. But she weighed more than he could carry. He ran over to his father and shook him. The man stayed asleep. Sam could smell the heavy alcohol surrounding his body. Sam started coughing even more, he was getting dizzy.

"SAM! I'M SCARED!" Sam quickly ran out of the bedroom towards his brother who was coughing in the hallway.

Sam looked at their bedroom that was quickly filling up with smoke. "Go out the window Stevie!" he yelled at his younger brother. Stevie shook his head in fear. "Run Stevie get out of here! Run!" he yelled at his brother and pushed him down on the ground, Sam turned to run back into his parent's bedroom but yelled over his shoulder. "Crawl to the bedroom and climb out the window!" Stevie crawled away. Sam was feeling extremely faint and tried waking up his parents again. "MOMMY PLEASE!" he screamed at her as he shook her body. The woman stayed asleep. Sam wiped his smoke filled eyes and kissed her forehead. He was crying. He turned around and saw that the front of the room was engulfed in flames. He ran to the window and found it was stuck. He started panicking. "STEVIE!" he screamed. His younger brother ran to the window and looked around on the ground outside. Sam was feeling like he was going to faint at any moment from the heat. Stevie picked up a huge rock and Sam backed away from the window. Sam would never know where his brother got the strength to do it but the window shattered and Sam ran to it and breathed in the outside air. He grabbed his dad's shirt from a chair and broke off the little pieces on the bottom of the window. He climbed out and cut his knees a little but grabbed his brother's hand and ran to the other side of the street. At that moment the fire trucks came as Sam watched their house burn down. He never took his eyes off of his parent's window as he silently prayed and hoped for his mother's blonde head to pop out. But it never did.

Sam and Stevie sat in the police station with their ash covered faces. Stevie had fallen asleep in the chair next to him while Sam stayed awake and tried to figure out what the adults were planning. He stared at two officers who were looking over at them and whispering.

"No family at all?" One asked the other officer. The officer shook his head. The first officer who had spoken sadly looked over at the two brothers.

"Hey!" a third officer walked over to the men and spoke quietly with the one who had spoken. "A woman's here to get them." He said looking over at Sam. "Social worker," he whispered. Sam was annoyed that no one was speaking to him about these matters. The man mumbled something but Sam caught it, "I don't know if they will be able to keep them together after this." The first officer who had spoken earlier looked over at Sam as if he was thinking about something. "They said the fire started somewhere in the living room behind one of the couches." The third man continued to gossip.

"Electrical?" the second officer asked him. The third officer shook his head no. Sam looked over at his little brother. _Stevie...please tell me you didn't._

Sam quickly stood up and addressed the officers.

"I'm not going anywhere without my brother," he glared at the three men, "I'm not going to let you separate us."

"Hey now little fella," the officer who had spoken walked towards Sam with his hand out. "Don't worry about any of that."

"I heard you!" Sam's voice got louder, which caused some other officers to look over at the group. "I'm not being separated from my baby brother." He crossed his arms over his chest, hoping that it made him look more serious. The police officer stepped back and looked at the other men. Just then a woman walked into the office and smiled at Sam.

"Hi Sam," she spoke kindly to him, which reminded Sam a lot about his mother. He wanted to cry but he couldn't show weakness in front of the men. It was something his father had made sure that he learned. "My names Gloria and I'm going to take you and your brother to a nice small family for a few days okay."

"I'm not going anywhere without my brother ever," Her eyes widened but she smiled.

"I promise you that I will do everything and anything in power to keep you two together." Sam wasn't sure why, but he trusted the brunette woman. He slowly nodded and looked over at Stevie who was staring at the woman.

"Come on Stevie," Sam turned to his younger brother. Stevie started coughing as he moved off the chair.

"Where are we going Sam?" Sam could see the panic on his face.

"I don't know," he tried to smile, "But we're going to stay together." The two brothers walked away with the woman. They didn't even notice the first officer, Joe Wallace, stare after the two blonde boys leaving the station.


	14. Chapter 13

"Coming," Mercedes yelled as she ran down the stairs to answer the door. She opened it and her eyes grew wide. "Rachel?" she asked in confusion. Rachel stood there with a package under her arm and stared back at Mercedes with the same expression.

"Mercedes?" The two women awkwardly stared at each other for a few moments before Rachel spoke again. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

Mercedes raised her eyebrow, "I could ask you the same thing Hudson." Rachel grimaced.

"It's back to Berry now," she said looking to the side. _Oops_, Mercedes had forgotten about the divorce. _Well this is awkward_. "But yea...why are you in Mr. Evans house?" Mercedes had to pause for a moment. She was so used to calling him Sam that she had almost forgotten that his last name was Evans.

"I'm his nurse," Rachel's mouth stretched into a silent "O" and she nodded her head. She looked into the foyer behind Mercedes. "Oh shoot sorry, come in," Mercedes moved out of the way to let the Brunette woman walk in. "So how do you know Sam?" Rachel looked at Mercedes with the same confused expression Mercedes had given her before and then a look of recognition crossed her face.

She grimaced, "Oh, I'm his secretary." Mercedes wasn't sure why, but she felt a slight tinge of jealousy towards the woman. She had seen those movies about secretaries and their bosses and she couldn't help but wonder if something had gone on between Sam and Rachel. She slightly shook her head to clear her thoughts. _It's not like we're dating_, she scolded herself, _so there's no reason to care._ "He ordered me to bring him his package from the office." She rolled her eyes.

Mercedes laughed, "That definitely sounds like Sam." Rachel flipped her hair and nodded. "Do you want to stay for tea or something?"

Rachel smiled at the invitation, "That'd be lovely," Mercedes smiled back. She and Rachel had never really been friends. Even though she could be nice at times, her self-centeredness was really intolerable. She had only tolerated her for the most part because she had married her best friend's brother. It was kind of awkward for her though, because Finn had started dating Rachel right after Mercedes had broken up with him. She had prayed every night for a month hoping that Rachel wasn't a rebound. But surprisingly the two seemed to be deeply in love. Well considering that Finn didn't feel the need to smack Rachel in the head with a shoe after she mentioned something about Broadway for the billionth time. "Did you know Barbara Streisand drank Green tea every night before bed," she beamed. Mercedes forced a smile and widened her eyes in false interest.

"You don't say," She said walking towards the kitchen with Rachel in tow.

"Yes," she let out a dreamy sigh, "it's so fascinating that the greats drink simpleton tea just like us." She adjusted her sweater. _It's like 98 degrees Celsius outside_, Mercedes shook her head, _this woman's going to get a heat stroke and die with all of those sweaters. _Mercedes put the kettle on the stove and waited for the water to boil. Rachel seated herself at the table and Mercedes walked over to join her.

"Where is Mr. Evans?" Rachel looked around in fear. _They are definitely not sleeping together_, Mercedes grinned, _Sam would have accidentally suffocated her with a pillow just trying to shut her up during sex. _Mercedes could imagine it.

"_You like that?" Sam would ask during sex._

"_Oh yes," Rachel would reply while panting. "Did you know Liza Minnelli had sex with her partners four times a day so that she could hit a higher vocal range by night?" Rachel would say as Sam held her against a wall. Sam would give her a weird look, "It's true, she said that sex is the key to a higher vocal range...Sam what are you doing?...Sam what are you doing with that pillow?..."_

Mercedes started giggling but stopped when she saw Rachel's confused face. "Oh sorry," she tried to compose herself, "I dropped him off at Rehab about an hour ago," Rachel visibly relaxed. "I'll put the package in his room for you."

"Thanks," the kettle started whistling, so Mercedes got up to take it off the stove. "So what do you think about working for Mr. Evans?" _How does one put "it is often hell on earth" kindly?_

"Not too bad," she reached for some coffee mugs. "He has his mood swings a lot, but I've kind of figured out how to deal with them when they come." She shrugged. "Sugar or cream?" she turned towards Rachel.

Rachel shook her head no, "Black please," Mercedes nodded and Rachel got a panicked look on her face, "Oh my God, I didn't mean for that to sound racist," Mercedes raised an eyebrow, "I absolutely loved The Colour Purple production on Broadway oh and Dream Girls." It took all of Mercedes' strength not to smack the smaller woman in the head, or at least not to flick her in the ear. She forced herself to smile and laugh.

"Don't worry," she reassured her, "I didn't take it the wrong way." _Until you kept talking that is. _She turned back to get the tea bags and some sugar for herself. "How do you feel about working for Sam?"

"Um...well," she paused, which caused Mercedes to turn around and look at her. Rachel was fidgeting with her nails. She stopped and looked up at her. "We can be like Galinda and Elphaba right?"Mercedes had no idea what she was talking about, but she safely assumed that Rachel wanted to keep whatever was said just between the two of them.

"Don't worry," Mercedes smiled, "I promise it will never leave this kitchen."

"Oh thank God," Rachel let out a sigh of relief, "Working for him is like being any other Jackson five member aside from Michael." Mercedes did her best to hold in her laughter. "I feel overworked, underappreciated, and terrified most of the time."

"Sam doesn't seem THAT bad." Mercedes tried defending the man.

"No it's worse than that," she sipped her tea, "There was a woman who had to steal food to feed her children a couple of months back and he refused to help her." She blew on her tea and muttered, "Asshole." She quickly looked up and blushed, "I mean it's just so crazy how different he is from his younger brother." Mercedes saw the dreamy look cross Rachel's face and didn't like it.

"You know Stevie?" she tried to be nonchalant with her questions.

"Oh yes," Rachel smiled over the rim of her cup, "He used to come by the office all the time to bring lunch for him and Mr. Evans." She played with the tea bag. "Steve is absolutely the perfect package compared to his brother, who I think is missing a letter and few stamps if you ask me."

"Have you ever gone out with Stevie?" Mercedes made sure to use his real name to let Rachel know how close she was with the younger Evans brother. Well at least how close she used to be with him before he pretty much dropped off the face of the earth a few weeks ago.

Rachel quickly shook her head no and then blushed a deep reddish colour, "I wish," she sighed, "he never showed his interest, but I assume that it was because he thought that I was still married to Finn," she made a disgusted face and sipped her tea. "My poor Finn went from being a young Marlon Brando to an older Brando in a matter of years." Mercedes raised her eyebrow. Rachel saw her confusion and puffed out her cheeks and used her arms to suggest that Finn had gotten fat. Mercedes tightened her grip on her mug. "Well at least he aspires to be more than just fat... you know with the whole Biggest Loser thing."

Mercedes nodded and yelled at herself for inviting the woman to sit down.

"But yea," she sighed, "He's really mean and unkind...I don't think he has ever said thank you to me since he said "thank you Mrs. Hudson, I'll let you know if you got the job" at my interview." She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and downed the rest of her tea. "If I were you," she gave Mercedes a sympathetic look, "I'd get out as soon as I can before he destroys your soul and makes you feel absolutely worthless."

Mercedes knew that she shouldn't invest so much trust into anything that came out of Rachel's mouth. But she had felt worthless a lot of the times when Sam was more of an asshole before. Yet, they had spent a lot of time together over the last few weeks. Sometimes they would just sit together on the couch and talk about random things that didn't even make sense, but she enjoyed every second of it. When he wasn't doing work in his bedroom, they would play card games like Goldfish, which he once tried to change into Stripper Goldfish.

"_How does that work exactly," she said as she folded her arms over her chest._

"_If you don't have my card you strip," he grinned at her and then looked at the cards in his hand. Her eyes grew wide. "Do you have a two?" she shook her head no._

"_Goldfish." She said slowly while eyeing the blonde man sitting in front of her._

"_Okay so now you get naked." He beamed at her. She smiled back, put her cards down, and slowly got out of her chair. She sauntered over to him seductively until she was right beside him and gently trailed her fingers down his arm. His jaw dropped and his breath hitched. Mercedes flipped her hair and teasingly pulled the zipper down on her sweater. Sam's ears started to turn red. She grinned and slowly trailed her hands up his arm again and then suddenly pinched him hard. "OW" he grabbed his arm. "What the hell was that for?" he stared at her in shock._

"_That was for thinking I would be dumb enough to play that game," she gave him a mischievous smirk and sat back down. He pouted but she could see a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth._

He had also started to randomly pull her into bear hugs. At first she was shocked, but after awhile she would secretly hope for him to just grab her and put her cheek against his firm chest. He would often just hold her there with no explanation. She would listen to his heartbeat and slowly close her eyes as she enjoyed the warmth of his body. It had certainly been a nice distraction from her thinking about the other Evans brother.

But now hearing Rachel talk about Sam made Mercedes remember exactly how he had been for the first few weeks that she had worked for him. A lot of the time she was convinced that she hated him but she couldn't understand her feelings for him now. She was emotionally all over the place when it came to Sam and she didn't like it. It was like a dam waiting to break.

"Well I have to head back to the office and send more emails to the judges since Sam is out of work for a few more weeks." Rachel said standing up. _Don't come back now, ya hear._ Mercedes finished her tea and then stood up as well.

"Oh what a shame," Mercedes tried to hide the glee in her voice.

"Don't worry," Rachel smiled as she walked towards the door. "Now that I know where you work," she continued to speak over her shoulder, "I can come over whenever Mr. Evans is at rehab and we can talk about A Raisin in the Sun or something else that you'd probably know on Broadway." Mercedes gave the smaller woman cut eye. _Fool why are you only mentioning black productions?_ They reached the door and awkwardly smiled at each other. Mercedes reached over and opened it as an obvious signal to get out. _You don't have to go home, but you need to get the hell out of here._

"Well bye then." Mercedes said through gritted teeth. Rachel quickly waved and walked out. She turned around to say something else but Mercedes quickly closed the door. She quietly laughed and leaned against it and thought about Sam. _He should be done rehab soon, _she twisted her ring, _I'll just head over and pick him up early._ She smiled to herself and walked to her room to get her purse.

She walked into the building and asked the front desk assistant where the rehab area was. The older woman kindly told her the room number and pointed her in the right direction. She politely said thank you and walked towards the room. She had picked up Sam many times before at the centre, but he had always waited for her outside. But since she was early today he hadn't been expecting her just as yet, so she decided to just surprise him. When she walked to the room she could hear children squealing and laughing. She stood at the double doors and peered in through the small window. She saw Sam sitting on a chair with four or five kids with prosthetic limbs lined up next to him. One of the kids was sitting on his good knee and he was bouncing them around as if they were on a horse and the kids were dying from laughter. Mercedes looked to the side and saw some of the adults who were working on getting their body parts to function watching the commotion with huge smiles on their faces. She looked back at Sam and smiled. He put down the first kid and patted the top of his head and then picked up the second kid and played horsy with them. This child in particular had a prosthetic arm, so she could see Sam being gentler with the little girl.

"Can I help you?" Mercedes jumped at the voice behind her and looked into the kind face of a tall black woman. Mercedes clutched her chest to calm her heart down. The woman laughed. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Mercedes smiled back.

"No it's okay," she extended her hand, "I'm Mercedes Jones, I'm –"

"Sam's nurse!" The woman beamed at her. Mercedes gave her a confused look. "Sorry," the woman grinned, "Sam has spoken about you so often that I was just excited to finally meet you." _Sam talks about me?_ "He said you're amazing at your job and that he can see you working here as a physical therapist." Mercedes eyes widened.

"Oh no no," she smiled, "I could never be amazing enough to do that." She blushed and looked back at the blonde man who looked exhausted from all the playing around. "I probably should go save him before he has a heart attack."

The therapist laughed, "He's okay," she looked at the man. "He does this every time he comes," she smiled. "Last week it was the conga line," Mercedes laughed at the image.

"I wish I could have seen that," she smiled at the taller woman.

"Well I took tons of pictures if you ever want to," the therapist smiled warmly at her, "I'm Donna by the way, I just realised I never introduced myself."

"That's perfectly fine."

Donna nodded and looked back at the room, "Well I'll go set him free so that you can take him home."

"Thanks." Mercedes adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder.

Donna grinned and walked into the room, "Boys and girls I hope you had fun, but Mr. Evans needs to rest his little old knee." She looked over at Sam and winked. Sam gave her a look of gratitude. The little kids hugged Sam and ran to the other side of the room. He beamed at them and waved. Mercedes felt a tug on her heart. _This man is adorable_. She smiled and walked into the room to see Sam clutching his bad leg with a grimace on his face.

She slowly walked up to him, "Hey you okay?" his head shot up and he looked at her in surprise.

"Mercy!" He struggled to stand up, "Hey, yea I'm great just a bit sore." He smiled at her and used only one crutch for support. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I was bored at home so I came to bug you," she smiled up at him. He smiled back and opened his arms. She quickly walked over and he held her in an embrace. "Ew Sam," she laughed, "You're sweaty!" he looked down at her and held her tighter, "No, ew let me go!" she giggled and he rubbed his body more on her playfully. She tickled his sides and he let go. He was panting and laughing.

"Okay truce," he smiled at her, "I'll go get changed." He looked her over and then walked to the room on the side, which Mercedes assumed was a change room or something. When he came back out he smiled at her. She really loved his smile and was thrilled that he had been smiling more lately. "SO what are we doing today?"

She shrugged. "You need some new clothes right?" he made a face but then nodded. "Okay to the mall it is then."

"I hate shopping," he rolled his eyes and then grinned. She smiled back at him and took his gym bag.

"All you have in your closet are sweats and suits," she made a disgusted face, "we need to get you some sexy clothes." He raised his eyebrow and gave her an inquisitive look. "I mean for when you start dating again," Mercedes averted her eyes, "You know considering that you're not getting any younger now." He scoffed.

"THANKS for pointing that one out," he laughed as they walked to her car.

"Hey now," she put her hands up, "I'm just speaking the truth." He playfully poked her in the side and she slapped his hand away. She took his crutch from him and put it in the back seat of the car once they had reached it. "Get ready to get sexy." He winked at her and settled himself into his seat.

Once they got to the mall, they just window shopped for half an hour before Mercedes could convince Sam to try something on. "Come on Sam!" she held up the black V neck shirt. He gave the shirt a stank face and shook his head. "I'm serious, you'll look so hot." He sighed and took the shirt from her. She smiled triumphantly and looked for more shirts to squeeze him into. "Oh here's a black dress shirt!" she said while picking the item off of the rack.

"Mercy, please don't make me do this," she turned to look at him and smile.

"Sam..." he raised his eyebrow. "Why do you call me that?" she had always wondered but never knew when the right moment was to ask him. He seemed to be in a good mood that day so she decided to chance it.

"Because I like to," he shrugged.

"I mean I don't have a problem with it," she quickly tried to make him feel comfortable again, "It's just that you started to randomly call me that."

"What's the big deal," he started to get slightly defensive which was not how Mercedes wanted the conversation to go. "It's just a nickname."

Sensing his defensiveness made her feel more uptight as well, "Well I could call you something like trouty mouth," he stared at her with his mouth wide open. "That's just a nickname too."

"Why would you call me that?" he looked offended, "Mercy is a fond name that I only call you which makes me happy," she smiled, "it's not like I'm calling you weave head or something." Her smile dropped and Sam's face merged into something she could only describe as fear and "oh shit." "I mean, I WOULD NEVER SAY THAT." He tried to hide his laughter. She smacked him in the arm and he laughed like a maniac.

"Just try the damned shirts on you asshole," she rolled her eyes and pointed to the nearest change room. His laughter died down and he carried his shirts to the change room. When he came out wearing the black dress shirt her heart stopped. He looked amazing. She could see his muscle definition underneath the shirt and for a split second she wondered what he looked like naked. _Stop that. _She shook her head to clear her thoughts and walked towards him, "Well damn Sam," he grinned at her, "You look sexy that's for sure."

"You think so?" he smiled, "Would you want to date all of this," he gestured to his body.

"In a heartbeat," she noticed his collar was bent in so she reached up and fixed it by pulling his head down a bit. His face was closer to hers and she noticed that he was biting his lip. She stared into his green eyes.

"Mercedes?" he licked his lips.

"Mhm," was all her mind could manage.

"Do you think you're gonna get married some day?" he asked in a lower voice. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Maybe, some day," She grinned, "Why, do you know someone who wants to marry me?" she asked him playfully.

"Yea," his face got red. _Is he blushing?_ "I definitely know someone who would want to put a ring on it." He leaned closer to her. She noticed she was still holding his collar but she didn't want to let go. "You are the most confident and the most beautiful woman I know...I love that about you," his whisper lingered on her lips. She slowly closed her eyes and gently pulled his head down closer to hers.

"Sam Evans?" her eyes flew open and Sam quickly straightened up and turned to look over his shoulder. "Oh my God it is you!" Sam stepped back a bit to look straight at the long legged, hazel eyed, brunette woman wearing a dress who had called his name.

"Veronica?" Sam's eyes grew large in surprise. "Holy shit!" he smiled at her. "How are you?" the woman walked quickly towards Sam and hugged him.

"I'm amazing now that I found you," the woman rubbed his arm. Mercedes cleared her throat. Sam looked over at her and shook his head.

"I am so sorry," he apologised to Mercedes, "This is Mercedes," he looked at Veronica, "This is Veronica an old friend of mine." He smiled at the beautiful woman. Mercedes didn't know her, but she already didn't like her.

"Oh definitely an old friend," the woman chuckled, "Sam and I were best friends in law school," she put her hand on Sam's shoulder and looked fondly at him, "We did a lot of late night studying didn't we," she winked at the blonde man who Mercedes noticed was blushing. _Studying what you hoochie? His penis?_ "How do you know each other," she pointed from Mercedes to Sam.

"Mercedes is my nurse," Veronica clutched her chest and finally noticed his knee, "It's not so bad, Mercedes has pretty much completely healed me by now," he looked at her and winked, "She's amazing at what she does."

"Oh how quaint," Veronica gave her a tight lipped smile, "A nurse you say? What a cute little job." Mercedes narrowed her eyes at the taller woman. She had a sudden urge to bite her ankles. Veronica looked back at Sam, "We need to catch up while I'm back in town," she played with his shirt. _Back off bitch._ Mercedes tried to control her thoughts but was failing.

Sam looked at Mercedes and then back at Veronica. "Um...I'll get back to you on that," he smiled at her. "I think I still have your number, so I'll get in touch,"

"You better," she poked him, "I've missed you so much Sammy," Mercedes gave the woman side eye. _I'mma dice that bitch, I'mma ice that bitch, I don't like that bitch, I'mma fight that bitch, I don't like that bitch._ She looked over at Mercedes, "Well see you later Lexus," _Oh hell no_.

"It's Mercedes you twiggy bitch!" The woman's eyes popped open and Sam's jaw dropped. Mercedes covered her mouth. She hadn't intended for that to slip out. She quickly walked out of the store and found a bench to sit on. She put her head in her hands. She didn't know where the anger and the jealousy had come from. Sam could see whoever the hell he wanted to. She saw two feet and the foot of the crutch in front of her and slowly looked up.

"What the hell was that?" he gave her an annoyed look.

"Well that was an accident," she shrugged, "But she was a bitch."

"How old are you fourteen?" he looked angry, "Adults don't deal with shit like that."

"Oh you're fucking one to talk," she rolled her eyes and got up causing Sam to move backwards. "You treated me just like that when I first met you."

"I never spoke to you that way!" she could tell he was legitimately offended.

"Whatever, I'm going home." She walked quickly towards the car. She walked fast enough that she wouldn't have to walk with him and she waited for him in her car with her head against the steering wheel. He threw his crutch in the back and silently slipped into the car without saying a word to her. She didn't like his silence, she would prefer if he had been snarky to her instead.

They got inside and she walked to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water.

"I honestly don't understand why you're acting like this," she turned to see him leaning on a wall.

"Because she was freaking flirting with you right in front of me which is rude." She sipped her water, "So I put the hoe in her place."

"You have no right to call her that," he squinted his eyes at her, "You don't know her."

"_Ooo Sam and I studied together aka had sex on all the surfaces of his room_," she mimicked the woman and rolled her eyes.

Sam scoffed and his eyes widened, "Wait..." a grin tugged at his lips, "Are you jealous?"

Mercedes narrowed her eyes at him, "Oh please," she walked passed him, he hobbled behind her.

"You are so fucking jealous of her." He shook his head.

"Shut up!" she stopped to stare at him.

"Just admit it!" he yelled back at her.

"I am not jealous of your tramp!" she scoffed.

"Stop calling her names," she could see he was getting visibly angry.

"I'm only calling her what I think her mother should have called her," Sam shook his head. "I don't care about who you sleep with or what evident bad taste you have."

"You're so fucking blind it's funny," he blurted out and gave her a dirty look and walked towards his room.

"What the hell does that mean!" she said running behind him.

"Never mind," he grumbled and continued walking. She roughly grabbed his shoulder to make him stop walking.

"No! You'll tell me right now!" she screamed at him.

He turned around quickly, "It means you're so fucking wrapped up in your own head that you can't see how much I fucking love you." She stared at him with her mouth open. He shook his head. "I love you." He said more quietly. Mercedes shook her head and walked back towards the kitchen. "Oh so now you're going to just run away like a coward huh?"

She stopped in her tracks and walked back towards him, "DON'T YOU CALL ME A DAMN COWARD SAM EVANS," she screamed at him, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THIS TO ME" she was crying. She walked closer to him and pushed him.

"WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?" he yelled back at her, "I have every right to love you!" she tried to push him again and he grabbed her arms and quickly spun her around so that her back was against a wall and he was leaning over her. She was unsure how he managed to do that with his bad knee.

"YOU'RE SUCH A FUCKING BASTARD," she pounded on his chest, "I HATE YOU SAM EV-!" he grabbed her and pulled her into a rough kiss. She moaned into his mouth and roughly bit his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist as he held her against the wall. He ground his body against hers and cupped her ass. _THIS IS WRONG, STOP._ Her eyes flew open and she pushed him off of her and slapped him hard across his face.

He stared at her in shock and moved backwards. "How dare you," she said walking away from him, "How dare you tell me you love me after the fucked up way you treated me." she was crying so hard she couldn't see. "You make me feel like dirt one second and then you treat me like a queen the next." She shook her head, "That's not LOVE," she spat out, "That's some sick and twisted game that I want no part of."

His face was red, "I'm trying!...Mercedes I'm trying but it's" his voice cracked, " it's hard to express to you how I feel...," he started crying, "I don't know how to fucking do this Mercy." He wiped his eyes but the tears continued to flow, "My childhood was consumed of one parent trying to make me feel like shit and the other one trying to love me as much as she could." He looked at her, "I never realised how messed up I was until I met you." He sniffed, "The only person I ever had to love was Stevie...and I fucked that up." He wiped his face, "Then there was you and look at how that turned out," She stared at him, her heart aching for what he had just told her. "Now what the hell do I have huh?" He turned to walk back into his room, but then looked back at her, "I have never felt this way about any woman before," he shook his head, "I just wanted to be better for you..." she stepped towards him and he put his hand up to make her stop. "You made me want to be better." His tears fell freely down his face and he licked the salt off of his lips. He turned around and walked back into his room and firmly closed the door behind him. Mercedes stood crying outside his door wishing that there was some way to turn back time and fix everything that had just happened.

Edit: Thanks to my Best Friend jojo5spnluver for all of the help you gave me to get passed my writers block. I hope you guys liked it, tell me what you think!


	15. Chapter 14

Mercedes was humming a song to herself as she washed her dishes in the kitchen. It was the only thing that could calm her down considering that she was still reeling from the confession that Sam had made a few days earlier. _You can't see how much I fucking love you. _ She didn't even know how to respond to it. She knew that she shouldn't have gotten as mad as she did, but she was glad that it had helped him finally show her his vulnerable side. But it didn't really matter, since they had been giving each other the silent treatment since the whole thing happened. Sometimes she just wanted to knock on his door and ask him the million questions that she couldn't help thinking about. _Why me? How long have you known this? How do you know?_ But she didn't see the point. What would she do with the answers anyways? She heard him enter the kitchen and her body immediately tensed up. She tried to refocus her mind on the dishes and attempted to ignore her increasing heart beat.

"Can you pass me a bowl," he asked from behind her. Mercedes jumped at his voice, she hadn't expected him to speak. She stopped washing the dishes and reached up into the cupboard and handed him one. "Thanks." She nodded and resumed the washing of her dishes. He reached into the fridge for some milk and she watched him out of the corner of her eye. He poured it into the bowl and put it in the microwave. She scrunched up her nose.

"What are you doing?" she raised her eyebrow.

"It's a microwave," he stared at her like she was stupid, he pointed to it, "People put food into it to warm it up." She rolled her eyes, _this man is rude as hell._ When the microwave stopped he pulled out the bowl and grabbed the cereal from on top of the fridge.

"Are you seriously going to eat it like that?" she thought the idea of warm milk and cereal was gross.

"No," he poured the cereal into the bowl, "I'm just going to sit at the table and stare at it for awhile."

"Listen," she forcefully turned off the tap, "You don't have to be so damn rude."

"I wouldn't be so _damn rude_ if you stopped asking me stupid questions." He looked at her from side of his eye and then went back to looking at his bowl.

"Why are you acting like this?" she felt her eyes starting to blur. _Stop crying over a man Mercedes._

"Great another stupid question," he turned his body to look at her, "How am I supposed to act Mercedes?" she crossed her arms over her chest, "I tell you that I love you and you slap the hell out of me." He shook his head, "Rejection is a hell of a bitch," he walked closer to her until he loomed over her, "and trust me when I say it hurts more than that slap." He reached around her and grabbed a spoon from the dish rack. He made his way back to his cereal, picked up his breakfast, and slowly walked out of the kitchen. She stared at his retreating back and closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears. Once she had calmed herself down, she finished cleaning up in the kitchen and went upstairs to her room. She sat down on her bed and twisted her ring. She picked up her phone and saw a text from her younger sister.

_Miss you, I need my big sis, call me- Dee_

She knew that she needed to talk to her sister, but right now she had too much on her mind. She ignored it and decided to speak to her later. She dialed the one person that she knew she could talk to.

"Hey cattie," her mother said cheerfully into the phone.

Mercedes started to cry again at the realisation of how much she missed her mother, "Mom," she tried to catch her breath, "I need your help."

"Mercedes what's wrong?" her mother asked in a panic, "Where are you, what's happening?"

"No mom it's nothing serious," she tried to calm herself down again, "I'm sorry for scaring you." She walked to her bathroom and blew her nose. "Mom, I have gotten myself into a bad situation with two men."

"Oh my God are you pregnant?" her mother all but screamed into the phone.

Mercedes got frustrated at how badly she was communicating with her mom, "No I'm not. I just think I'm in love with both of them."

"What do you mean you think?" her mother sounded slightly annoyed. Probably from the fact that she had initially thought that Mercedes was either dying or pregnant from her previous miscommunication.

"I don't know..." she sighed, "Stevie was just amazing and caring, but then he just disappeared without explaining anything to me." she walked back into her room and sat down, "and I really felt this connection to him from the beginning and then our date was just perfect." She smiled at the memory, "We had this incredibly tender kiss."

"Mhm,"

"Then there's his brother Sam who was a complete jerk for awhile," she turned her ring, "But then sometimes he surprises me with how loving and funny he can be." Mercedes grinned, "And he's an amazing kisser."

"First of all," her mother said in a stern tone, "I never raised you to play the field or kiss a bunch of random men, so that needs to stop." Mercedes wondered if talking to her mother was a good idea after all, "You cannot string them along Cattie."

"But mom, the only person that I initiated a kiss with was Stevie...Sam kind of just decided on his own to do it." She replied defensively.

"Well then why would you want to be with a jerk like that?" Mercedes sighed, "There doesn't really seem to be that much competition between the two honey."

"I know," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "It should seem so obvious to choose Stevie but I can't stop thinking about Sam, and now that Stevie's missing I'm even more confused." She groaned, "I think I'm going to put in my two weeks," she had thought about it a lot since the fight with Sam, "I don't want to hurt them and I don't want to get pulled deeper into all of this."

"Well my daughter, you need the money so it'd be good to just hang in there for a little while longer." She knew her mother was right. She really couldn't afford to lose her job right now.

She shook her head, "Why did I have to fall in love with the damn Evans brothers."

"What's their last name?" her mother said slowly into the phone.

"Evans," she scratched the end of her nose, "Stevie's a veterinarian and Sam's a defense lawyer."

"...Sam Evans?" her mother said quietly as if she was thinking. "Where does he work?" Mercedes was confused as to why her mother was asking so many questions.

"I'm not sure somewhere downtown, but he hasn't been there for a few months because he got into an accident," Mercedes could hear the prolonged silence on the phone. "Mom are you still there?"

"What do these men look like Cattie?"

"Both are dirty blondes, but Stevie has blue eyes and Sam has green." She pictured their eyes and her face got hot, "And they have big-"

"Lips?" her mother interrupted her.

"Yea, like pillows...mom how did you know that?" Mercedes felt even more confused.

"Um...I think I took Chewie to that vet before," she cleared her throat and Mercedes relaxed. "Definitely go for Stevie Mercedes, ignore that lawyer." Her mother said forcefully.

"But mom Sam's a good guy deep down," she defended him but she wasn't sure why.

"Listen to me," her mother said in her "don't mess with me tone." "You stay away from that man. He sounds like he's not good for you."

"Mom, I'm his nurse," she wasn't sure why her mother sounded so angry, "I can't really stay away from him."

"Then you're going to quit," Mercedes didn't know what had come over her mom, "I don't want you in that house anymore, do you understand me?"

Mercedes eyes widened, "Mom, I'm a grown woman and this is my job," she slightly raised her voice, "You just told me that I needed the money and to hang in there."

"Forget about the money!," Mercedes felt like she had been slapped, "You either quit that job or I'm coming in there to drag you out." Mercedes was startled by her mother's anger. "We will find another way to pay the bills...hold on," she stared at the phone in disbelief, "Your aunts on the other line, I will call you back." She heard the dial tone and threw her phone down on the bed. Calling her mother had definitely been a bad idea.

The phone rang and she quickly answered it, "I think you're being unreasonable mom."

"Um...Cedes?" Mercedes stopped breathing for a moment as she listened to his deep voice, "I miss you...can we please talk?"

Mercedes drove herself to the restaurant and waited outside the doors. The taller blonder Evans walked towards her wearing a black blazer, a grey medium shirt, and dark blue jeans. He grinned at her sheepishly and she glared at him.

"I'm really sorry," he bit his lip, "I wanted to talk to you so much, but I needed to figure everything out first." She rolled her eyes and looked to the side. He walked closer to her and took his finger and gently tipped up her chin, "I missed you so damn much Cedes," she slowly looked at him, "You were all I thought about," he smiled, "Well you and your surprise," she raised her eyebrows. He let her chin go and looked down at the smaller woman.

"You could have called," she stated angrily. "or texted me back!"

"No I couldn't actually," he laughed, "I knew that through my excitement I would blurt out the surprise before I even finished it," she played with her ring and he leaned forward, "But don't think that I didn't dial and hang up constantly." A lock of her hair blew into her face and he reached down and gently tucked it behind her ear. "Can I hug you?" she sighed and slowly nodded. He opened his arms and she reached around his neck and he lifted her up in a strong embrace. She looked at him as he held her so now that she was right in front of his face. She studied the eyes that she had missed and he leaned forward and gently kissed her on the lips.

She sighed at the familiarity of his mouth, "I'm still mad at you," she whispered, but she knew that she wasn't.

He lightly chuckled, "I love you Mercedes," he quietly whispered as he brushed his lips against hers. She stared at him with wide eyes and he put her down. She inwardly groaned, _what do I do now?_ He blushed at her and opened the door to the restaurant.

Mercedes struggled to keep eye contact with him once they had been seated. She continued to go through her head of what to say. She decided that she needed to tell him everything that had happened. She opened her mouth but he spoke first.

"I've been working on something for you, I –"

"Stevie," she cut him off, "Sam told me he loved me and I-"

"He did what?" Stevie practically yelled and Mercedes looked around the restaurant at the other patrons staring at them, "I'm going to fucking kill him."

"But Stevie, it's not-" she tried to explain.

"It's a good thing that I did what I did then." He glared at the table.

"What did you do?" she asked him slowly. He looked at her as if he had just realised she was there. He smiled in embarrassment.

"Sorry," he placed his hand on hers on the table, "Sometimes when I get mad I just go into my own world." She nodded her head. "Well my surprise is that I found a new nurse!" He exclaimed with a bright smile.

She stared at him in disbelief, "I'm sorry what?"

He stroked her hand, "I knew that you must have been so uncomfortable having to be around someone with a personality like Sam," he smiled, "So I hired a new nurse to take over for you for your last few weeks." Her jaw dropped, "And!" he slightly laughed, "I set up four other potential jobs for you, so that you won't be out of work." He picked up her hand and kissed it as she stared at him in horror, "I told them that you were doing missionary work in Africa at the moment, so that it wouldn't seem weird that I was attending interviews for you."

She pulled her hand out of his, "Are you insane?" his smile fell, "You went behind my back and fired me?" his eyes grew wide, "How dare you make a decision like that without even speaking to me about it!"

"I know and I'm sorry," he looked apologetic, "But I thought you would just be nervous to communicate how you really felt about Sam, so I took it upon myself to help you out of the situation," he bit his lip, "I wanted to make you happy Mercedes that's all,"

"Well your plan backfired Stevie," she shook her head in disbelief, "I seriously cannot believe you right now!" she crossed her arms over her chest, "Sam still needs me!"

"Well I thought you hated Sam!" he threw his hands up in the air, "I thought this would have been the best thing in the world for you, but you're acting like you don't want to leave him or something," A look of guilt crossed her face. "...You do want to leave him...right?" he asked her slowly. She played with her ring and looked down at her hands, "...do you..." she looked up at his face, "...do you love him?"

She wanted to tell him no, that she could never fall in love with a man like Sam. But she couldn't lie to him.

His eyes clouded over with hurt, "Oh..." he leaned back in his chair and looked down.

"Can I get you two anything?" a waitress asked cheerfully as she reached the table.

"No we're okay thanks," Mercedes tried to answer the woman calmly. The waitress quickly understood that something bad was happening, nodded and walked away, Mercedes looked at him, "Stevie," she finally managed to say. He didn't look up, "I was going to put my two weeks in today because I wanted to avoid this from happening," she shook her head, "I'm just so confused right now."

He cocked his head to the side, "So you just got mad at me for finding a new nurse and you were planning on quitting anyways?" he gave her a dark look.

"Me quitting is on my own terms," she returned the look, "not someone else making decisions for me." she narrowed her eyes, "I am not a child."

"Really?" he scoffed, "Because it seems like not telling someone that you're in fucking love with his brother, is pretty damn childish."

"Where were you huh?" she could feel herself shaking, "Where were you for me to tell you that?"

He placed his palms on the table, "I was trying to make the woman that I fucking worshipped happy," he spat at her, "That's where I was!" he quickly stood up, "If you love him then go be with him!" he stormed out of the restaurant and she ran after him.

"Stevie!" he continued to walk away, "I love you!" she yelled, he stopped abruptly with his back facing her, "I don't know how this all happened," she wiped her wet eyes, "I never wanted to hurt you." She walked closer to him, "I was going to quit so that I could figure this all out." He slowly turned around to face her and she saw the intense pain written all over his face.

"Then quit," he said coolly and continued to walk to his vehicle. Mercedes stood behind him staring at yet another back of an Evans brother.

When she got home she slowly walked to her room and threw herself on her bed. Her eyes were sore from crying. Her phone vibrated and she looked down at the text, hoping that it was from Stevie.

_Going out of town until tomorrow to visit your aunt. Remember what I said._ She rolled her eyes at the text message from her mom. This was not the time for that. She remembered the pain she had caused Stevie and started to cry again. If she kept it up, she would be severely dehydrated by the end of the night. She closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.

She woke up to the sound of loud buzzing which she had initially dreamt were bees before she realised it was vibrations and not buzzing. She opened one eye and saw the glow of her phone. She pulled it over to her and saw that it was an unknown number calling her at 2 am. She contemplated ignoring it, but she reluctantly answered.

"Hello?" she said groggily.

"Mrs. Jones?" A woman asked very loudly.

"Yes?" _If you're a telemarketer I'm going to kill you_.

"This is Steel Heights hospital calling you about your sister Delores Jones," Mercedes immediately sat up in her bed, "I'm sorry to tell you but she was in a car accident about half an hour ago."

"What?" her hands were shaking so badly that she almost dropped the phone. "How, what, is she okay...?"

"She's unconscious at the moment and undergoing some surgery to relieve some swelling in her head," Mercedes felt everything that she had eaten earlier rise up to her throat, "Can you please come down to the hospital," she started hyperventilating.

"y-yes," she cried heavily, "I'm coming right now." She hung up the phone and immediately dialed Stevie. She didn't know why she did but he was the first person to pop into her mind.

"Hey,..." she heard him say.

"STEVIE!"

"...You've reached Steve Evans, I'm not free at the moment but if you could leave your name, num—" She tried again but got the answer machine for the second time.

"Stevie," she managed to say, "My sister is in the Steel Heights hospital..." she cried harder, "please come." She hung up the phone and called her mother instead but again no answer. She ran down the stairs and grabbed her purse from the table with her shaking hands. The food that had been rising to her throat decided to make its appearance so she ran to Sam's bathroom, knelt down, and heaved up everything she had in her body. She felt someone holding her hair away from her face and rubbing her back.

When she had stopped, Sam walked to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. Her hands were still shaking badly, in fact her whole body was shaking as if she was cold. He decided to hold the back of her head with one hand and the cup with the other so that she could drink.

"I'm so sorry," she managed to choke out. He gave her a weak smile and she could see his face was contorted with fear. "My sister's had a car accident."

"Shit," his eyes widened.

"I don't know what to do," she cried harder, "She needed me earlier and I wasn't there!" Sam pulled her into a hug, "She NEEDED ME." she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Mercy get up!" he tried pulling her to her feet, "We're going to call a taxi and go down there okay."

She continued to cry but nodded. He held her face in his hands, "I'm going to be with you every step of the way okay, I promise." She leaned her head against his chest and felt him shift one arm to pull her into a one armed hug. She heard him dialing his phone with his free hand.

"Hi can I please have a taxi?"

Edit: Thanks to my best friend again for all of the help, Leave me love, let me know what you think!


	16. Chapter 15

Mercedes sat hunched over in the chair next to her sister's bed. Her head rested in her hands as her body shook with the force of her tears. Sam sat next to her and slowly rubbed her back as he let her cry out her pain. According to the surgeon, her sister would be perfectly fine. She would have a visible scar on her scalp from the surgery, but other than that she would bounce back. Mercedes was happy at the news, but she was still beating herself up for not being there for Delores. When she had reached the hospital she had left another message for her mother and hoped that she would get there soon. They had been there for two hours already and Mercedes was absolutely exhausted. Sam stopped rubbing her back and gently massaged the tension in her shoulders. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you," she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. He grinned at her and nodded. She sighed and leaned back in the chair and Sam put his hands down on the arms of his own chair. "I just...I can't believe this happened." She shook her head and bit her lip as she stared at her sleeping sister, "I can't believe I fucked up this badly."

"How exactly did you fuck up?" he stared intensely at her with his green eyes. "Mercedes...you can't stop life from happening. It will happen regardless of what you do." She looked to the side and he reached out and slowly turned her face towards him. "You can't beat yourself up for your sister getting hurt. The man who T-boned her should be beating himself up." he gently wiped away the tears from her eyes with his thumb. She sighed and leaned into the touch. He put his hands down and grabbed hers and held them.

"Let me tell you a story." He spoke quietly so that he didn't wake up her sister, "When I was in high school, Stevie wanted more than anything to join the football team." He smiled at the memory. "I was terrified that he would get hurt or killed because he was this little scrawny blonde kid with a lot of spunk and little mass." She smiled, "But our foster parents encouraged him to do it," he rolled his eyes, "And the next day he tried out for the team. Much to my surprise he got in." He sighed, "Now don't get me wrong, I love my little brother, but I promised our mom that I would take care of him...and sending him to get massacred by big burly men didn't really seem to fit that request." She laughed quietly. "So he started playing and Mercedes...he was amazing." He smiled, "He was fast and strong...I was proud of the nerd" a dark look suddenly passed his eyes, "...but one game he got tackled really hard." He shook his head, "Like really hard, and I literally ran out on to the field and tried to pry the guys off of him,"

She could see him clenching his jaw, "...He was unconscious and his arm was twisted at an unnatural angle." he rubbed the back of his neck, "I blamed my foster parents and then I blamed myself for not stopping him in the first place. But eventually I had to make myself realise that he would be okay and that he really loved playing football. He got a fucking scholarship to college because of it" He looked at her and smiled, "It makes no sense to beat yourself up over something like this. You're here now for her and she's going to be okay." She slowly nodded, "Being the older sibling is a bitch and a half. You take on all of these responsibilities to the point where it makes you sick. But sometimes...," he squeezed her hand, "We just have to breathe a little and hope that they will be okay." She leaned over and gave him a hug.

"Thank you." She suddenly laughed, "I think that's the longest I have ever seen you not act like a big ass," he winked at her and smiled.

"Sometimes I act like what I like." He lightly tapped her bum. She laughed and leaned back from their hug and just smiled at him. They heard a knock on the door and she got up to answer it. She gasped when she opened it.

"Cedes, I'm so sorry I wasn't here earlier," Stevie stared at her with deep sorrow in his eyes. She smiled and walked him out into the hallway. "Is she okay?" he bit his lip and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder. She could tell that he was unsure of what to do after their fight the night before. "I wanted to be here before, but my cell was turned off." He shook his head, "I just wanted to be alone to think and then I had a bad feeling and checked my phone." He took his hand off of her shoulder and stared at the ground, "When I heard your message, I felt like shit...I should have been here for you."

She reached up and hugged him. He sighed into her hair and hugged her tighter. "She's okay Stevie...thank you for coming," she pulled away and he smiled down at her.

"I bet she's a fighter," he grinned, "She'll pull through," Mercedes wasn't sure why, but she felt like she had heard that statement before.

She pushed the thought away and smiled, "Yea, she'll be okay. But she's going to have a scar on her scalp that I'm worried will bug her." Stevie nodded.

"Well, I don't know if I told you, but I broke my arm pretty badly once," she grinned at the fact that both brothers were trying to comfort her with the same story. "I have a scar that runs down my arm from the surgery that I had on it." He smiled, "So if you want me to, I can show her so then maybe she won't feel self conscious about her own." She smiled at the taller man.

"You are...amazing, you know that?" he blushed and ducked his head.

"I'm not, I just don't want her to feel down. I don't know her and I've never met her, but I know she is someone very special to you aside from your mom, so..." he shrugged, "you know...that makes them important to me too." _He is so corny_. She smiled and gave him another hug. _But sweet._

"Stevie," she heard Sam's deep voice from behind her. She quickly let go of the taller blonde and stared at Sam. Both brothers stared at each other. Mercedes was terrified that they were going to start a fight in the hospital. Sam stuck his hands in his pockets, looked over at Mercedes for a moment, and his eyes softened. He looked back at his baby brother. "What's up?"

"Not much." Stevie looked at Mercedes and then back at his brother, "thanks for being here with Mercedes." He extended his hand. Sam looked down at it and sighed. He reached out and shook his brother's hand. Mercedes let out the breath she had been holding.

"Anything for Mercedes," he didn't look at her but she felt the emotion in his voice.

"You guys," they both looked at her, "How about we just sit down inside the room and relax until she wakes up." both men nodded and still stared her. "Okay then, I'll go inside first." She walked in feeling extremely awkward at having both men stay in the room with her. Sam sat next to her and Stevie sat on the other side of Delores' bed and stared at her sister. He smiled and looked over at Mercedes.

"Wow, she's like your twin," he laughed quietly. "How old is she?" Mercedes grinned. People had told her that she and her sister were almost identical all of her life. Even as they got older their uncanny resemblance didn't change.

"She's twenty four," Stevie looked at her and smiled.

"Ahhh she's a youngin," she laughed and nodded. "Guess the old man couldn't take the excitement of the night." He pointed towards his brother. Mercedes looked over and saw Sam with his head to the side dozing off. She smiled at the sleeping man and yawned.

"I think I'm going to sleep too," she spoke quietly to Stevie. He nodded his head and then looked around. He got up and grabbed a blanket from the corner and handed it to her. "Thank you." He winked at her and sat back down. She wrapped herself up in the blanket and fell asleep.

She woke up to the sound of quiet talking and laughter. She kept her eyes closed and listened.

"This scar is going to be so ugly," She could hear her sister say. "I should just accept the single life forever."

"What? No." Stevie's deep voice chimed in, "Look at this baby right here. See this? I tell all the pretty ladies that an alligator attacked me in Australia." Delores laughed, "Seriously, it is the best babe magnet on the planet. Just tell a guy that a tiger attacked you or some shit and you're golden. If a girl told me that a lion or a tiger or even a bear attacked her...Oh my God, I'd be all over that"

"And chicks with scars are definitely hot," _Sam's awake too?_ "Like I feel like I'd only bang a girl with a scar now."

"Lies," Delores giggled.

"Oh my God, have you not seen the Bride of Frankenstein?," Sam gasped, "You haven't? Well that's your problem right there. You need to watch it and see how hot she was. All you need is a really tall man...and considering how short you and your sister are, that won't be a problem." Mercedes heard a faint smacking sound and then laughter, "Hey now no hitting, but you seriously just need a tall dude with some big ass feet." Mercedes smiled at the fact that the two Evan's brothers were trying to comfort her little sister. She opened her eyes and stretched. The brothers and her sister looked over at her and smiled. Sam was sitting on the corner of her bed and Stevie was standing next to it.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily. Both brothers pulled out their phones.

"Nine ten," they said in unison and Mercedes had to hold in her laugh.

"Thank you," Stevie walked over to her.

"Are you hungry?" she felt the faint grumble in her stomach and nodded. "Okay, I'll go get you some food," he looked back at his brother and at Delores, "You guys hungry?"

"I don't know if I'm allowed to eat outside food," Delores answered. "But screw it, bring me an Egg Mc muffin please." Stevie laughed.

"Yea that's a good choice," Sam looked over at Delores and smiled, "I'll have the same, but make it a meal." Stevie nodded and looked back at Mercedes.

"You?" She shook her head.

"Surprise me," he smiled at her and winked.

"Okay," he walked over to his coat and put it on, "Be back soon guys. I saw a Mickey D's just around the corner." He gave Mercedes one last smile and walked out of the room.

"McDonalds was a good choice," Sam turned to her sister and beamed. She giggled. "I think I like you Ms. Delores." Her sister blushed. Mercedes felt a slight stir of jealousy in her stomach. She pushed it down and leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes as she listened to the conversation between Sam and her sister.

"Delores!" Mercedes eyes flew open as she stared at her mother run into the room.

"Mom!" the older woman embraced her youngest child who was sitting up in bed.

"Oh my God my baby," she pulled away and looked at her and started to cry, "Are you okay?"

"Yea mom I'm fine. I'll be okay." Her mother gently kissed her daughter on the forehead and then looked over at Sam who had stood up once she had entered the room. The look on her mother's face scared Mercedes. She looked agitated and angry, but Mercedes couldn't understand why. Just as quickly the look faded away and she slowly walked around the bed towards Sam. Mercedes looked over at Sam and stared at his face. She noticed that he had gone pale and he looked scared. His eyes were wide and she could tell that he was slightly shaking.

"You must be Sam Evans," her mother extended her hand to him, he stared at it then slowly shook it.

"I...I didn't know-" Sam had begun speaking but her mother put up her hand. She looked over at her daughter and smiled. She let go of his hand and walked over to Mercedes and hugged her.

"How are you Cattie?" she looked into her daughter's eyes and Mercedes stared at her mother in confusion. She quickly looked over at Sam who was clenching his jaw, had his eyes closed, and was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm good mom...tired" her mom smiled down at her.

"Good, I'm sorry that I wasn't here baby," she sighed, "Your aunt was having bunion surgery and needed me to help her with things." She shook her head, "I was running around so much that I passed out and didn't even check my phone."

"It's okay mom, Sam was here to help me," she smiled in his direction but he was staring silently at her mother. "Sam?" he snapped out of what he was thinking about and looked at her. Her mother slowly turned to look at the man.

"I bet he was," she gave him a tight lipped smile. Just then Stevie ran back into the room holding a huge bag from McDonalds. He smiled around the room and then his eyes landed on her mother.

"Oh! You must be Mrs. Jones," he beamed at her and put the food down on a nearby table, "Pleased to meet you." He extended his hand, "I'm Stevie Evans." Her mother returned the bright smile and pulled the taller man into an embrace. Stevie's eyes widened but then he chuckled and hugged the older woman tighter.

"Thank you for being here for my daughters Mr. Evans," Stevie blushed and then smiled.

"My brother was here helping Mercedes first...I had some personal problems to deal with." He grinned sheepishly. Her mother released Stevie from the hug and looked over at Sam again.

"Mhm, can I speak to you outside Sam?" Sam stood up to his full height and nodded. "Be right back girlies," Her mother led the way outside of the room and Sam followed while rubbing the back of his neck. He pulled the door slightly closed.

"Well that was weird," Stevie looked at the door, he shrugged and turned to Mercedes. "I bought you a yogurt parfait, a wrap, and a muffin." She smiled at him. But she couldn't get over how weird her mother and Sam acted.

"Thank you. I'll be right back, I must go to the little nurse's room," she stood up and walked out. She looked around for her mother and Sam. She walked down the hallway and was about to round a corner when she heard their voices.

"Please let me explain to you what happened,"

"I've already heard what happened to you Mr. Evans. I heard it all when you yelled at me that day."

"I know I was wrong for doing that but—"

"No but's! I had to switch my shift to get away from you, now you get the hell away from my daughters."

"Mrs. Jones I'm a good guy! I made wrong choices but your daughter has helped me—"

"Yes my daughter has helped a psychopath like you and her job is done, now you leave her alone."

"Mrs. Jones I can't do that I love your-"

"Don't you DARE say that you love her! Now you leave my children alone or I will call the police."

"Mrs. Jones...I'm sorry...I should have NEVER yelled at you that day and I was going to apologise to you the next day...but I got hit..."

"Mr. Evans...as a good Christian woman I will forgive you...but I still want you away from my child. I expect you to respect me and my wishes. I won't tell Mercedes what happened because I don't want her to hate you, even though I should."

Sam sighed and quietly spoke"...okay...I'll leave Mercedes alone"

Mercedes shook her head. She couldn't grasp what she had just heard. She quickly walked back into her sister's room and sat down on the chair in shock.

"Cedes, you didn't tell me your sister wanted to be a vet!" she slowly looked over at the two and Stevie's smile dropped, "Are you okay?" she slowly nodded and forced herself to smile. _He yelled at my mother? He treated her badly? Who the fuck does that?...Sam...that's who._ She glared at the wall.

Her mother walked back in, "Sorry Sam said he had to go home," her mother walked in cheerfully. Mercedes looked over at the shorter woman and held a slight resentment for her keeping secrets from her. But she knew she was just trying to protect her.

"Oh? He didn't eat his breakfast." Stevie looked over at the meal, "Did you want it? Or I can get you something else," he said to her mother,

"No, I'm okay thank you. You're a good man," he blushed and looked at Mercedes.

"Stevie can we talk outside?" Mercedes finally spoke. He gave her a worried look and nodded, "Thanks." She stood up and walked out. She could hear him following her.

"Mercedes where are we going?" she looked around for a deserted hallway and walked down it. She quickly turned around and stared at him.

"Come here," she pointed to the spot in front of her, he slowly walked up to her. She reached up and grabbed him around the neck and kissed him hard. He wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up so that he wasn't so bent over. She kissed him like it would be the last time in the world they would ever see each other. She raked her fingers through his hair and sighed into the kiss. He nibbled on her lips and she moaned. He gently put her down and pulled away from her, he was panting hard. "I want to make this official," she said in between gulps of air.

"What?" he looked at her confused.

"I want us to be a couple Stevie, I'm moving out of your brother's house tomorrow."


	17. Chapter 16

Mercedes sat on her living room couch with Chewie curled up beside her. She looked down at him and saw that he was asleep. She grinned and gently scratched his head. The little dog looked up at her and then closed his eyes, she had missed her little companion a lot. She looked up at the TV screen. The television show _Girlfriends _was on, but she wasn't watching it. She was lost in her thoughts about the ugly fight she had with Sam a week earlier when she had gone over to his house to get her stuff. As much as she tried to stop thinking about it and move on with her new relationship with Stevie, Sam's words would always pop up in her head. Stevie had initially asked her if she had wanted him to come with her to pick up her stuff, but she had been worried that the brothers would fight. There was enough drama going on between them that she didn't want to poke the sleeping giant, aka Sam Evans. But despite her best efforts, the giant woke up, and he was in for the kill.

_Mercedes quietly opened the door and looked around. She didn't hear anything and assumed that Sam had gone out to get things from the office, or maybe he had gotten a ride to his physical therapy session. She walked quietly and quickly up the stairs to her room. Luckily she hadn't brought much with her to begin with, so she grabbed the suitcases in her room and began filling them with clothes from her closet. She heard a door open downstairs and quickly turned her head towards her bedroom door. She walked over and heard Sam talking on his phone. He was jingling his keys, so she figured he must have just walked in. Shit, she thought to herself, thank God I parked down the street. She slowly closed her door, but kept it open a bit so she could hear what he was doing. She heard him chuckle on the phone and wondered who he was talking to. She peered around her door and silently crept outside to look down the stairs. He was sitting at the bottom of them with his leg stretched out. He was wearing his track tear away pants and he undid the side buttons on his bad leg. From where she was standing his leg looked red and swollen, but she couldn't really tell from that distance._

_He laughed again, "I don't know if that'd work Veronica, I'm pretty sure the judge would know that your client isn't insane...well considering that he called her a daft bitch in court." He laughed again and rubbed his leg. "Okay I admit that it's an insane thing to do! But I doubt she would give him any sympathy whatsoever...Well write a formal apology for him since you're trying to make him insane instead of just an idiot...No problem, you know you can talk to me anytime...Yea I miss you too, I'm really happy that you're hanging around town longer than you thought...Dinner?...hmmm, well..." he laughed and Mercedes spun her ring around her finger like crazy, she was grinding her teeth as well. "No I know you're an amazing cook...But I just" she heard him hesitate and spun her ring faster, "can I get back to you on that?"_

_Ow! Mercedes felt a sharp pain in her finger and looked down to see that her ring had caught on a piece of flesh and pulled it. She looked at the blood dripping down her hand and walked back into her room and to her bathroom. She took off her ring and placed it by the toothbrush holder on the corner of the sink. She washed her hand and cringed at the sting. She turned off the water hoping that it wasn't too loud and walked out of the bathroom in search of a band-aid. Fuck it, I need to get out of here. She quickly packed up the rest of her things and when she was done she listened by the door. She no longer heard him talking and walked out and looked down the stairs. Good he's gone. She slowly dragged her first suitcase down the stairs, mostly lifting it as she went. She made it to the front door and heard a creaky sound. She whipped around and stared at nothing. She quietly opened it and shuffled out with her bag. She moved as quickly as she could down the street and put her suitcase in her trunk. She walked back to the door and took a deep breath and prayed he'd be in his room. She quietly opened it and looked towards his bedroom. It was closed. She breathed a sigh of relief and went to get her last bag. She pulled it out of the room and again peered down the stairs. She slowly walked down and stumbled a bit, she paused and looked around. But nothing happened. She continued to move and practically ran to the door._

"_Mercedes?" Sam's voice came from behind her. Mercedes put the bag down and slowly turned around to face him. He was giving her a weird look and staring at her bag. "What the hell are you doing?"_

_She looked into his eyes and sighed, "I'm here to get my stuff."_

"_You're leaving?" he folded his arms over his chest, a look of hurt crossed his face, but it was quickly replaced with anger, "And...wow you tried to sneak out huh. Very adult like of you."_

_She glared at him, "What the hell does that mean?" she placed her hand on her hip._

"_It means that you are a twenty eight year old woman who is acting like a god damned pre-teen! The respectable thing to have done is fucking tell me that you were no longer working here and properly get your shit. But you knew you were in the wrong because you chose to fucking sneak around here like a rat."_

"_Who the hell are you to call me a rat?" she walked towards him and pointed her finger, "Did I fucking yell at your hard working and tired mother, Sam? Did I fucking disrespect your family like that?"_

_His eyes widened, "Well good she told you...but I didn't yell at her, I ranted to her. And I admit, it was a fucking dick move and I'm sorry. I apologised to her and she refused to accept it. But I had a horrible day and she caught me at the wrong time!"_

"_Always excuses with you," she shook her head, "But whatever, it happened and I now see you for who you really are." She started to turn around._

"_I FUCKING RANTED ABOUT MY DAY MERCEDES!" he screamed at her back, "DID I FUCKING SAY CLEAN UP MY SHIT CLEANING BITCH? NO! I TOLD HER THAT I GOT HIT BY A FUCKING CAR AND THAT MY GIRLFRIEND WAS A BITCH!" his face was red and he was really out of breath to the point where he was wheezing. He rubbed his chest and tried to calm down. _

"_Excuse me?" she narrowed her eyes at him, "Clean up my shit, cleaning bitch? How fucking dare you!"_

_He rolled his eyes, "I didn't actually SAY THAT, I just ranted about my day. I don't even understand how the hell this concerns you."_

"_SHE'S MY MOTHER! SHE'S MY FAMILY SAM! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" she stared at him in disbelief, "She was so right about telling me to get out of this house. I should have listened sooner."_

"_Grow up Mercedes, grow right the fuck up!" he spat at her, "Are you always going to listen to your mom? Huh how about you make decisions on your own for once! YOU lived here with me, YOU know me. Your mother knows nothing about who I am!"_

"_Fucking hell she doesn't! She didn't even know you well but called you out on your bullshit! From the day I came here you were a complete and utter asshole, I HATED YOU"_

"_You know what..." he pinched the bridge of his nose, "I am sick and tired of trying to show you that I'm trying hard to be better! In your eyes, I will never be good enough for you!" he clutched his chest again and closed his eyes in pain. "I'm done playing nice, I'm done. I liked your mom a lot when I saw her at the office, but now I have a fucking problem with her and you. Both of you don't LISTEN, you don't SEE, and it's fucking aggravating."_

"_I don't know why the hell you're even talking to me right now. Didn't you tell my mother you would leave me alone huh? Weren't you the one who just gave up in a blink of an eye," she started crying and picked up her bag._

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_I HEARD YOU! You didn't even fight! You just gave up and said okay!" she muttered, "Fucking love my ass, you fucking bastard."_

"_Are you kidding me? No seriously are you kidding me right now?" he walked towards her, "Is this why you're leaving? Mercedes I told your mom that to get her out of my hair, I wasn't actually going to leave you alone." He touched her shoulder and she moved away from him, "See this is your problem! You make fucking hasty decisions and they blow up in your face!" he shook his head and began pacing, "I wasn't fucking going to leave you!" she shrugged. He chuckled darkly, "Wow...I understand now. You love me so MUCH, that you can't even handle being in the same house with me anymore. You love me so much that you're scared, you're absolutely terrified of your feelings for me."_

"_I DON'T CARE...I don't care anymore." She wiped her tears and looked down, "I'm done with you. I don't fucking love you...I've moved on." He stopped pacing and stared at her._

"_Moved on how..." she refused to look up at him, "Stevie?..." he walked towards her until he was right in front of her, "Are you talking about my little brother?"_

"_He's a grown man! And yes we're together." She glared at him._

"_Break up with him NOW!" she jumped at his yelling._

"_Why? Huh, because you're jealous? I care about him and you can't make me leave him" she shook her head._

"_No, because you don't love my brother and you're using him because you are fighting your feelings for me! And as much as my brother and I fight, I'm not going to let you fucking break him, he has been through ENOUGH." He growled at her, "Now you BREAK UP WITH HIM NOW!"_

"_You can't make me do shit! I won't let you bully me! I care too much about him too hurt him," she scoffed, "he will make his own decisions."_

"_Look at the words you're using, you CARE for him? Not once have you said you love him." He narrowed his eyes._

"_Care is another word for love you moron," she rolled her eyes._

"_You're wrong, and you know it. How many times have you seen Stevie over the last few months huh? How many times have you gone out with him? How the fuck can you love him when he disappeared for WEEKS...you're playing with fire. And you're going to get burned."_

"_Are you threatening me?" she pushed him and he stumbled back, "What the hell are you going to do huh?" she placed her hand on her hip, "And for your information he was looking out for me! That's why he was missing, he wasn't being a fucking dick like you"_

"_I am not going to let you hurt my brother." He shook his head, "You're so god damn shifty."_

"_How the hell am I shifty?"_

"_BECAUSE YOU'RE PLAYING THE BOTH OF US MERCEDES!" he screamed and panted out of breath. "That's shady as fuck."_

"_Are you serious? I was fine being courted by Stevie and you had to mess everything up! so don't you stand here and pass judgement on me because you lost Sam, YOU. LOST!" she picked up her bag._

"_Give it up Mercedes, I'm not this villain that you make me out to be in your mind. I do love my brother and if I honestly for one second thought that you actually loved him and hated me, I would stand aside. I never fought for a woman who didn't want me. But the way you look at me and the things you say about Stevie, shows me the complete opposite and I don't appreciate you fucking with his head. Adults don't do that shit, scratch that, GOOD HONEST PEOPLE don't do that shit." He folded his arms over his chest._

"_Don't try to pretend like you care about anyone's feelings but your own, you never gave two shits about your brother or you would have respected him from the beginning and not interfered with us. And I know you never gave two shits about me either...It was a sick and twisted game...THAT'S ALL THIS EVER WAS TO YOU! And I am tired! I am tired of you trying to be the good guy now. Life doesn't work like that! You can't just decide one day to start playing nice and then think you'll get whatever the hell you want. I am not some prize you can claim...and Stevie knows that...he always knew. And I let myself be blinded by your "change of heart." She opened the door, but then turned around and looked down at his red and swollen leg. It worried her and she wanted to ask what was wrong, but she figured he could go fuck himself. "Maybe you're the one who needs to step back and look at your life choices, before you try to judge me on mine." She threw her keys at him, walked out, and slammed the door behind her. She spent twenty minutes in her car crying before she could even drive._

Mercedes was shaken out of her thoughts by the voices of her sister and Stevie. He was helping Delores study for a test in one of her veterinary courses. They were sitting at her small dining room table.

"Dee, you know that makes no sense." She heard Stevie say, "How can that be diagnosed as a sprain if the animal is also having chest pains?"

"If the animal is limping and there's swelling in the leg, then it is an obvious sprain Stevie." She could hear the annoyance in her sister's voice and quietly laughed. The Jones women were known for their stubbornness.

"Okay, I'm not disputing that the animal had a sprain at some point, but there is more going on to that animal, it's also wheezing. You need to think deeper than that or your patient will die." Mercedes heard her sister sigh.

"What are you two bickering about?" she looked over at them.

"He's trying to drown me with knowledge." Delores laughed. Stevie rolled his eyes.

"I just don't want a whole bunch of animals dying and then it somehow comes back to the fact that I helped her study." He walked over to his girlfriend and sat down beside her.

"Take it easy Dee, you just got out of the hospital." She looked at the wraps on her sister's head and worried if incision was healing. "Let me check your stitches."

"Merce, I'm okay. I have a huge test coming up and I can't afford to miss it." She stood up and gathered her books, "I'm going to go lie down if you guys need me or anything." She walked over to the spare bedroom that she had been occupying since she got out of the hospital. Since her car was totaled and because Mercedes lived closer to her school, she had invited her to stay there. Stevie stared at Mercedes with worry in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he looked her over.

"Yea, why?" she smiled up at him.

"You look stressed." He took her hand and lightly kissed it, "got something on your mind?" she shook her head no.

"Just tired," she shrugged, "A lot has happened this week."

"That's true, you should go to bed...do you want me to go home or..." she looked at him and saw the need in his eyes. Ever since their passionate kiss, they hadn't done more than cuddle once in awhile. In her defence it had only been a week and she wasn't ready.

"You can sleep over if you want to," he grinned and nodded.

"Okay...but only if you're sure."

"Yep, I'm sure." She grinned. "I'm going to go get ready for bed."

"I'm going to make some coffee." He lightly kissed her lips and walked into her kitchen. Chewie got up and followed him. She turned off the TV and walked to her bedroom. She pulled an oversized T-shirt and a pair of shorts. She wrapped her hair up and tied a silk scarf around her head. She sat down on her bed and put cream on her legs. There was a knock on her door and she smiled.

"Stevie, you can come in." He opened the door and held the coffee in his hand.

"I forgot to ask you, did you want some?" she shook her head no. He put the drink down on the table and sat next to her on the bed. "You look cute," he eyed her sleep wear. "How come you wear a scarf around your head?"

"To keep my hair from getting messy," she thought his curiosity was cute.

"Oh...my hair gets really messy in the morning. Should I wear one too?" he winked at her and she laughed.

"You're a fool." She playfully swatted his arm.

"I know." He grinned and reached over for his cup and took a sip of his coffee.

"Is there anything wrong with you?" he almost choked on his coffee.

"I'm sorry what?" he looked at her confused.

"I don't know...you just seem too perfect...like too good to be true." His eyes grew wide and he quietly chuckled.

"Trust me...I'm far from perfect." He put down his coffee. "Like, I have serious bad gas when I eat cheese." He stared at her seriously and she laughed.

"That's all you got? Come on you have to do better than that." She crawled into her bed and laid down under the sheets. He checked out her bum and smiled.

"Uh...I have nightmares...really bad nightmares. Like ones where I wake up crying." He shrugged. "They just happen sometimes, and I also don't really drink too much because my emotions get really out of whack." He looked at her and sighed, "That's why I left that night because if I'm triggered I either like break down or I get really really mad."

"Like how mad?" she was slightly worried by the confession.

"Mad enough that I would have really broken Sam's other leg had I stayed." She slowly nodded. "I'm not violent, like I get myself out of situations before it can escalate to that so please don't worry." He grinned, "I'm also a hopeless romantic...I fall quickly for gorgeous ladies." He winked at her and she smiled.

"Come lie down next to me." She moved the blanket aside. He stood up and pulled off his shirt, revealing a six pack and a firm body. He slipped off his pants and just stayed in his boxers.

"I hope you don't mind...but this is how I sleep," she stared at his body in awe.

"No minding over here," she smiled. He laughed and crawled into bed beside her. He stared at her for a few moments and then gently kissed her. He went from her lips to her neck and she felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach. "Stevie, I don't think we should do anything." She stared at him and saw the quick flash of hurt in his eyes.

"You're right, you're tired," he kissed her cheek and turned over. She stared at his back and then placed her head in her hands. She felt bad, but she just didn't feel right. She blamed it on just being extremely tired and turned over and slept. After another week went by and she tried to figure out which one of the jobs Stevie had found for her would suit her best. He popped in from time to time to hang with her and Dee, and they had gone to see a movie once. After the movie he slept over again. They started making out. He moved on top of her and explored her curves with his lips after he had removed her shirt. She stared at his blonde hair and bent head and moaned. He nibbled little bits of skin with his lips which sent shivers through her body. He moved back up and kissed her deeply. She sighed into his mouth.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips, the same way he had when he told her the first time. He moved down her body again and lightly tugged at her bra.

"Stevie?" he looked at her from between her breasts, "I don't feel right doing this with my sister next to us...she has a test tomorrow and I don't want her waking up." He stared at her for a moment, his face flushed and then nodded. He got off the bed and walked to her bathroom. She sighed and pulled her shirt back on. She closed her eyes and heard him come back in but she pretended that she was sleeping. She could feel him looking at her but then felt him shift and turn his body away from her.

Later that night, Mercedes was jolted awake by quick movements in the bed. Her eyes flew open and she stared at Stevie who was flailing and crying in his sleep. She held down his arms and screamed out his name.

"Stevie! Wake up! Stevie!" the man's eyes flew open and he stared at her. He blinked a lot and looked around. "Are you okay?" he let out a breath and nodded. She moved to the side of him and he pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry." She rubbed his back.

"It's okay." She mumbled into his neck. He shook his head.

"I need to go home." He pulled away from her and rubbed his eyes. She looked over at her clock.

"Stevie, it's 3 in the morning." He pulled the blankets off of him.

"Yea I know...sorry Cedes...I just, I need to go home." He pulled on his pants and she stared at him. A knock came at the door.

"Hey are you guys okay? I heard yelling," Dee's quiet voice came from behind the door. Stevie picked up his shirt and opened the door. Dee's jaw dropped at the man's body. She blinked and then looked at her sister.

"Dee we're okay, Stevie's just going home. But he doesn't have to," she spoke to the man as he pulled his shirt on. He leaned over and kissed her.

"I know," he walked to the bedroom door and smiled sheepishly at Delores, "Sorry Dee, didn't mean to wake you up." he walked out to the apartment door and Delores followed him to close it. She came back and stared at her sister.

"What happened?" Mercedes shook her head and shrugged.

"Go back to bed you have a test soon." Delores stared at her sister and then closed the door behind her. Mercedes put her head back on her pillow but couldn't fall asleep.

The next week she went over to Stevie's house. She hadn't been there since the interview. She smiled fondly at the memory and rang the doorbell. A few moments later he opened it and smiled at her but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Hey." He stepped back to let her in.

"Hey," She smiled at him and he closed the door. He took her coat and then gestured to the living room. She walked into it and sat on the couch that she had sat on during the interview. He sat across from her and stared at the floor. "Are you okay?" he looked up and nodded.

"Yea I'm great, are you hungry?" something seemed seriously off with him and it made her nervous.

"Um yea." She stared at him, he quickly nodded and stood up. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Can we talk after dinner?" He looked everywhere but at her.

"...Okay." he turned around and walked into his kitchen. She bit her lip and sighed. She followed him inside.

"You can sit down at the table I'll just bring the food out," he said with his back facing her.

"I can help." He looked over his shoulder and grinned. He pointed to a bowl covered in foil.

"You can take the mashed potatoes in." She moved and picked it up and walked with it outside. She sat down and looked around. She hadn't seen this part of the house before and it was really nice. He brought the rest of the food out and put it down on the table.

"Dig in." She pulled the foil off of the food and it smelled delicious. There were potatoes and roasted chicken and asparagus. Her mouth watered at the food. She dished some out and they both started eating. She knew that most people ate in silence to enjoy their food but something just didn't seem right. She looked up at him and he was staring at his plate.

"Stevie..." he looked up at her, "I want to talk now. I can't eat with you acting like this."

"Like what?" he cocked his head to the side.

"You just seem distracted or mad..." She put her fork down. He sighed and put his down too.

"I didn't really want to talk about this over dinner but...why don't you want to have sex with me?" Mercedes stared at him wide eyed.

"I'm sorry what?" she finally choked out.

"Why haven't we had sex yet? Like every time we start you stop. I want to know why?" He leaned back in his chair and stared intently at her.

"Do we have to have sex? I didn't realise it was that important to you. I think emotions are more important, but now I see your position."

"You know it's not that important to me but I just want you to stop making excuses and be real with me." he folded his arms over his chest. "I think I deserve that much."

"I think you are way too focused on sex and I'm disappointed." She stood up and walked to the living room, "I think I'll go home now."

"What are you hiding from me?" he followed behind her. "Why can't we discuss this like adults? Sex is a healthy part of a relationship and I can go without having it, but you saying you're tired and talking about not bothering your sister when you're clearly aroused doesn't make sense."

She turned around and stared at him, "I'm just not ready okay, and I'd appreciate you not trying to push me into having sex with you."

"I'm not trying to push you into anything I just want to know why? Is that so much to fucking ask?" he glared at her.

"You know I thought you were different." She shook her head and grabbed her coat from the closet.

"Different from what? ...or should I say who?" he gave her a dark look.

"What is your problem?" she quickly turned around and stared at him. "What are you going on about? Maybe I should ask you what this is about."

He sighed, "Nothing." He put his hands in his pockets and walked back to the living room.

"No this is something and I want to know what it is?" she followed him, "We're having our first real fight over something absolutely stupid."

"You avoiding having sex with me is not something I would call stupid." He walked closer to her and looked down, "Does...does this have anything to do with my brother?" he stared at her.

"That's it," she walked to the door and pulled it open, "I'm your girlfriend and because I'm not ready, you want to go and open up a damn can of worms." She walked out and stormed to her car. She wondered if being single would be the smarter choice. She drove back to her apartment and walked to her bedroom. Her sister had gone back to her place the day before, so Mercedes was all alone. She sat down on her bed and threw her body back on to it. _I'm so tired of these Evans men_. She felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out of her pocket. She looked at the message and sighed.

**I'm sorry that I feel so insecure...it's just everything has happened so damn quickly and I'm confused. I shouldn't have asked you that, but let me make it up to you. How about dinner and an opera, a real proper adult date next Friday? –Stevie**

**Yea, okay. I'd like that- Cedes**

She rubbed her temples and willed her headache away. Maybe things would get better from this point.

The Friday after crept up pretty quickly and she hadn't seen Stevie around too much during the week because he had been busy with work. She put on a nice red dress with a slightly low cut cleavage and curled the front of her hair and left it down. She was putting cream on her hands when she heard her doorbell. She quickly rushed over with Chewie at her heels and opened it.

"Wow!" Stevie stared at her, "You look hot, like an inferno." She rolled her eyes at the corniness of it.

"You sure I don't look too hot for an opera?" he looked her over.

"Spin around," she followed his instructions and twirled, "Yea you definitely look too amazing, but they can kiss my ass." She smiled at him. And he stared at her awkwardly. "Hmm, so are you ready?"

"Yea, just let me get my shawl," he stepped into the front of her apartment and waited. She walked back to her room and felt a slight shiver. She had been having a bad feeling all day like the one she had when her dad was dying and then the one she had had before Matt died. She had called both her mom and sister earlier that day to make sure that they were alright. She went to twist her ring but realised it was gone. _What the fuck? _She looked around, _where is it? _She walked out into the hallway, "Stevie can you just give me a second, I can't find my ring." He walked towards her.

"You want me to help you look?" she nodded and bit her lip. That ring meant a lot to her, it was from her dad. They searched all around. "Hmm can we look when we get back? I don't want to rush you but we'll miss our reservation." She closed her eyes and tried to think of when she had it last. She had it at the hospital with her sister. She had it when she went home, she had it when she went to get her stuff and then she cut...

"Shit," he stared at her, "It's at your brothers."

"How did you leave it there?"

"I cut my finger and took it off to wash my hands. We have to go get it." she pulled her shawl on and walked to the door.

"Mercedes I promise you that I'll pick it up tomorrow," he followed behind her.

"No!" she whipped around to look at him, "I need it now."

"But Merc—"

"Stevie! My dad gave me that ring and I can't believe I've gone almost a month without it." She shook her head, "Please can we go get my ring." He stared at her and nodded.

"Okay let's go." She tried calling Sam on his phone to let him know they were coming, but he wasn't answering. She assumed he was probably at dinner with the bitch.

"He's not answering," she stared at Stevie's grim face and wondered what he was thinking.

"I have keys don't worry." She nodded and looked out her window. They pulled up to the house and all the lights were on. Mercedes had a really bad feeling. Stevie walked quickly to the door with Mercedes behind him and he opened it. He walked in and screamed, "SAM!" he ran towards the stairs and Mercedes saw Sam lying on the ground at the foot of it. She gasped and stared at him in shock. Stevie kneeled next to his brother and touched his pale face. "Sam," he lightly shook him. He put his head next to his brothers and listened for breathing. "Mercedes he's breathing call the ambulance." She couldn't move, she was paralysed with shock. "MERCEDES!" Stevie snapped at her. She quickly pulled out her phone and called the ambulance. They waited with him until the paramedics came. They put a bag valve mask on his face, and put the unconscious Sam in the ambulance.

"Does one of you want to go with him?" one of the paramedics asked the couple. Mercedes just stared at the woman in confusion.

"Mercedes, go with him. I'll meet you there." He put his hand on her shoulder and ran to his car. Mercedes quickly hopped into the ambulance with Sam and stared at his face. She began crying as she stared at his seemingly lifeless body. There was a big bruise on the side of his head. She looked up at the paramedic who was shining a light into his eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked. The woman shook her head.

"I think its head trauma, but we will know for sure at the hospital." Mercedes nodded and tried to look anywhere other than at his face. She felt so bad for leaving him in the first place, Stevie had asked him if he wanted another nurse but he said he would be fine. She should have known better. The paramedics rushed Sam to the ICU and Mercedes waited outside. She waited for any kind of news but she got nothing. Stevie ran in.

"Mercedes!" he yelled and rushed in behind her. She turned around and looked at him. Her eyes were swollen and he was panicked. "Have they said anything?" she silently shook her head. A doctor came out of the ICU.

"Are one of you family?" he looked between the two. Stevie started shaking.

"I am..." he stared at the doctor. "I'm his brother."

"Your brother will be okay. He's awake now." Stevie let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his face, "He had what is known as Deep Vein Thrombosis."

"Blood clots..."Mercedes stared open mouth at the doctor.

"Yes, he had blood clots in his injured leg, but through the lack of treatment, it developed into a Pulmonary Embolism. It travelled from his legs to his lungs. He would have been experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains." Mercedes couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Is that how he passed out?" Stevie bit his lip. The doctor shook his head.

"No, he said he fell down the stairs." Mercedes eyes widened. "We're giving him blood thinners now for the clots. He's kind of lucky that this happened, otherwise his fate could have been much worse"

"How did he fall...what?" Stevie couldn't get his thoughts together.

"I don't know sir, he didn't explain more than that. You can go in and see him in fifteen minutes or so. He's just being moved out of the ICU" Stevie extended his hand and shook the doctors.

"Oh my God...wow. Can you believe this?" he stared at Mercedes and shook his head.

"I need to see him," she stared at the door.

"Yea...we will soon enough." After twenty minutes Stevie went to the front desk to find out what happened. He found out the room number and he and Mercedes walked to it. They saw Sam hanging up his room phone when they walked in. His eyes grew large with surprise.

"Hey guys," Mercedes stared at the bruise on his face. She shook heard in shame.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" she walked up to his bed. He stared at her in confusion and shook his head.

"I'm okay for now thanks." He smiled weakly. "I have a killer headache though."

Mercedes broke down in tears, "I should have been there for you, I should have taken care of you." She shook her head, "You needed me and look what happened."

"It's okay, I have a concussion and now my legs being treated so...this worked out in a sick twisted way." Mercedes cried harder.

"I noticed your leg looked weird, I should have told you to get it checked out." She walked to him and held his hand. "I could have prevented this."

"It's seriously okay, you could have told me to go and I still wouldn't have. I hid it from you even before you quit." She leaned over and hugged him.

"I'm happy you're okay." Sam looked over her shoulder and stared at his brother who was glaring at Mercedes. Sam awkwardly pat her back and his brothers gaze shifted to him.

"Hey little bro," Stevie's eyes hardened and he rubbed his face.

"Are you okay?" he stared at the ground.

"...Yea ...I'm good man. You guys look good...did you go out?" Sam tried to relieve the tension in the room.

"We were going to but Mercedes wanted to get her ring that she left at your place."Sam rubbed his head.

"Where are my pants?" the three adults looked around and Mercedes spotted them on the chair. She walked over before Stevie could and grabbed it.

"Here." She handed them to him and Sam reached in the pocket and pulled out her ring. "Oh my God...what?" she stared at him and he handed it to her.

"I found it in your bathroom, I tried making it back down the stairs and my leg ceased up..." he shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"You fell because of me..." the guilt she was already feeling in her heart increased by ten. "This is so fucked up...I don't even know..." she hugged him again and whispered into his ear, "I'm so sorry."

Sam looked her over and was scared she would give herself a heart attack. Stevie looked her over too.

"Mercedes let me talk to you outside," she pulled away from Sam and slowly walked outside. Stevie followed behind her and closed the door, "Sam's okay, I think I should take you home." She shook her head.

"No, he needs me and I messed up by leaving before. I was childish and he fucking got hurt Stevie. I can't leave him now. Everyone keeps telling me to act my age, well here I am finally doing my job." She wiped the tears gathering in her eyes.

"He is okay Mercedes. Come visit him tomorrow if you want. Come on you need to rest." He lightly grabbed her arm and she shook it off.

"Stop it! I'm staying here," she glared at him and walked back into the room. "Sam do you want something to drink or anything?"

"Um coffee I guess." She nodded and walked quickly out of the room past Stevie. He stepped back inside and glared at his older brother. He turned and closed the door. He turned around and stared at Sam.

"She's too good for you Sam." Stevie shook his head, "Why do you keep pulling her back into this shit, what did you do huh? Throw yourself down the stairs?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sam stared at his brother, "How the fuck can you even suggest that?"

"Am I wrong? Can you really blame me?" Stevie walked closer to his brother's bed, "You fucking broke a plate on purpose, you created a ploy to kiss the woman I was after, and you pretended your leg was in pain. So in my opinion you could have easily staged something that went horribly wrong because you are a fucked up asshole."

Sam smirked, "You're right, I have done a lot, but that was before you guys officially got together. That's why I've respected the both of you and left you alone. AS honoured as I am for you to think so lowly of me, I didn't plan this." He hadn't blinked once during his explanation.

"You're so twisted, that I can't even trust you." Stevie's face changed with disgust, "How the hell could you even do those things to me? huh, to you're own brother!" he shook his head, "I feel bad for you for so many reasons, first there's you're inability to love ,then there's that fact you're alone-"

"Stevie stop talking," Sam's face started to turn red. He was fuming.

"No one will love someone so fucked up like you,"

"I'M serious SHUTUP!"

"you don't know how to love-"

"WHO'S FAULT IS THAT HUH?" Sam yelled, "THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD HAVE TAUGHT ME HOW TO LOVE WAS MOM AND YOU FUCKING KILLED HER, SO THANK YOU!" his eyes widened and he shook his head, a panicked look crossed his face, "Stevie...I didn't mean that...that came out all wrong."

Stevie's jaw dropped as he stared at his brother, "What?" he asked silently.

"Nothing," Sam closed his eyes and rubbed his aching head, he felt slightly sick. A nurse walked in.

"What is going on in here?" she looked between the two brothers, she looked at Stevie's clenched fists, "Sir I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"What the fuck do you mean I killed mom..." He stared at his brother, the nurse grabbed his arm and he shook her off, "Tell me right now!" Stevie started crying. "Why would you say that? Mom died in a fire! How did I do that?"

"Sir you need to calm down and leave right now." The nurse was starting to look scared.

"TELL ME!" he screamed at Sam who covered his ears.

"If you don't leave now, I will call the police" Stevie finally stared at the woman as if noticing she was there for the first time. He turned and walked out of the room. He wiped his tears and walked as fast as he could until he bumped into Mercedes carrying two cups of coffee.

"Hey I brought you coffee." She looked at his face, "Stevie what's wrong?"

"I'm going home and you need to make a fucking choice if you're coming or staying. I'm tired of this guessing game bullshit Mercedes." He shook his head.

"I have to stay here," She stared at him. He rubbed his eyes.

"Fine, then we're done." He turned and walked away. Mercedes put the coffees down on a small table and ran after him.

"What's your problem? Your brother needs us!" she yelled at him once they had gotten outside.

"No, YOU need my brother! And I'm fucking tired of being used by women, I am so fucking tired." He glared at her, "And you know how you're the worst out of all of them?" he stepped towards her, "Because you single handedly managed to destroy the only stability in my life, you have destroyed the relationship between me and my brother!"

"That's not fair!" she yelled back.

"No! You know what isn't fair? It's you choosing me as a fucking back up so you could sort your feelings out. WE ARE NOT IN HIGH SCHOOL MERCEDES. You can't play around with people like this and expect us to move on and be okay because it's a trivial relationship. WE are in our late twenties trying to settle down and get our lives together." He wiped his eyes, "I was so excited to be with you...I just kept imagining...Doesn't matter, I'm done." He started walking away and then came back, "You know what, for once in your life be honest with me," she was crying but she tried to stare at him, "Did you ever really love me?" she bit her lip.

"I thought I did," she cried harder. "But I—" He nodded and turned around and walked away without batting an eye, "STEVIE PLEASE!" she stared at his back. She wiped her eyes and walked back into the hospital. People were staring at her but she didn't care. She picked up the coffees and walked back to Sam's room. She needed to find out what had set Stevie off that way. _Did Sam tell him he loved me?_ She walked faster, she just needed to know. She walked to his door and saw that it was open. She was about to walk in, but stopped and stared at the scene before her. Veronica was sitting in the chair next to Sam's bed and they were holding hands. She had her head on his pillow and he had his slightly lying on top of hers. Their eyes were closed but they were whispering to each other. Mercedes slowly backed out of the room and threw the coffees away. She had lost everything in one night.


	18. Chapter 17

After months of a lack of communication and hard decisions, Mercedes finally sat down with her younger sister and told her everything that had happened. She sat with one leg folded under her and the other one dangling off the side of the couch as she stared at her sister. She bit her lip as she watched the gears turn in Dee's head. She had been thinking silently for the past five minutes which left Mercedes very nervous.

"So..." Dee scratched the side of her face and finally looked straight at her sister. "You pretty much fucked up." Mercedes stopped herself from rolling her eyes and hesitantly nodded instead. Delores put her hands in her lap and continued, "Yea...okay so your number one mistake was going to mom for advice. I love the woman...but mom is so not the person you talk to in these matters." Mercedes sighed and nodded again. As much as she didn't want to hear it, she knew Dee was right. "Like remember when I had a crush on that Dwayne guy back in high school and she told me that his hair was too big to be considered respectable." Mercedes started laughing at the memory of the guy with stars on the side of his head and the big mound of hair on top of his scalp, "Mhm, remember how she used to call him the wannabe Kid and Play? Yea...that was the last time I asked mom for any advice about men. She's just really set in her ways. And you of all people should know that."

"I know...Dee, I honest to God can't think of why I spoke to her about it instead of you." She slightly shook her head. "I had a problem and I just automatically thought of mom."

"Yea! Because mom is usually _the_ problem." Dee laughed. "Mom wants to control every aspect of our lives and she tries really hard to do it." Dee grinned. "I know she does it because she loves us and honestly wants the best...but she needs to take a step back and just let us do what we feel is right and if we fall...then we fall and pick ourselves up. Merce...we're not kids anymore, we don't have to run to our mommy all the time," she laughed, "Don't get me wrong, sometimes I still do, but we are grown ass women and if you forget that then mom will pounce on you...which she did."

"I agree, but who's going to tell her that Dee? As big as your mouth is, you would never tell mom to back off." Mercedes stared at her sister. Dee slowly nodded.

"That's true, I have experienced the slipper one too many times to be that stupid...but I think if we both spoke to her about it, then maybe she'd get the point." Dee looked to the side. "And if she still chases after us with the slipper, then we can take comfort in the fact that mom is getting old, so really, how fast can she run?...But whatever, we need to speak to her. Alright?" Mercedes hesitated and Dee frowned, "Mercedes come on."

"Okay." Mercedes shifted uncomfortably on the couch. She didn't like confrontation with her mother, but she knew it was time to cut the apron strings and get on with her life. It was hard for her because after their dad died, their mom was the only person they had. Mercedes saw how hard her mother worked to support her children and she always mentally cringed at the thought of hurting her mom in any way. But letting her control her life wasn't the answer either, it would eventually make her bitter and make her turn against her mom as a result.

"Secondly, this situation here was not entirely your fault. Realistically shit only really fucked up when you chose to date Stevie...even when you didn't know what the hell you were doing or feeling." Dee bit her lip, "But from what you've told me...it sounds like the Evans brothers managed to fuck up the situation too. Like take Sam for example," Dee started laughing, "That fool was a complete asshole, like I'm sorry but just from what you've said about how he treated you in the beginning and the porn, and him acting like a damn fool. To be honest, who would be attracted to that?" Dee stopped laughing, "But then he changed right?"

"Yea, he just became nicer and more caring, but then I'd still see the old Sam." Mercedes sighed and thought about the green eyed man.

"Okay well yea, that entire relationship sounds toxic and it seems like he has a lot of shit that he needs to clean up on his end before he even thinks about dating someone. So if he is dating that Victoria chick—"

"Veronica."

"Veronica chick, then that relationship will be fucked. Like hospital Sam seems like he's a really amazingly sweet, sexy...blonde...green eyed..." Dee drifted off in thought and licked her lips. Mercedes lightly kicked her in the shin. "Yes...sorry where was I? Yes...he is one sexy mudder pucker and I'm actually a little mad that you didn't tell me about this from the beginning because I could have gladly seduced one of those Nick Carter wannabes into my bed. The situation would have been avoided and everyone would have gotten laid." She folded her arms over her chest in annoyance.

Mercedes burst out into laughter. Her sister was a damn fool and she was sad that she hadn't discussed this with her before. "But back to being serious...Sam was wrong, he was so so SO wrong for pursuing you even though it was obvious that you were into his brother and that Stevie was definitely into you. Like you went to the fair with the man and he called you his wife. He was the one who asked you out first and Sam should have backed off knowing that his brother was interested in you. So in my opinion...that's just unacceptable, I don't care how sexy and bubbly his butt is, that is messed up."

Mercedes nodded, "...Sam does have issues and it really threw me off you know? Like I was fine not liking him, I was fine just doing my job...but then he got under my skin...even when he was an ass...it was just weird." She groaned. "I'm dumb for even having feelings for someone like that"

Dee laughed, "Merce, you are not the only one who does that, some women want the man who will fling them on to a bed and fuck their brains out and then kick them out of their beds the next morning* and you know what?" She put her hands up in the air. "There is nothing wrong with that. If that's what a woman wants then that's what she wants. But you liked the idea that he was so bad, but then you wanted the good guy too and Sam isn't like that. He won't be the one to bring you flowers, he won't be the one to whisper I loves you...he's the one who will fuck you on a table and randomly scream it out. That's Sam Evans. He is driven by emotion and anger, that's what gets him going." Mercedes eyes widened because it really was what Sam seemed to be like. "Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying he can't be sweet and caring, like it seems like he's really protective over Stevie, but he's just not that typical good guy. He's a person you have to constantly be on your toes with, he's unpredictable, and that's fucking hot."

Mercedes laughed, "It really is...it was like I never knew if I wanted to slap that damn grin off his face or kiss him into submission."

"And girl...can you imagine what the sex would be like," Dee kissed her teeth and fanned herself, "lawd have mercy, the angry sex would make your weave crawl right back into the package. Shit." Mercedes let out a snort. "Okay now on to mister Stevie. Stevie is the absolute puzzle here. I'm actually having more trouble figuring him out than I did figuring out Sam. Because as much as I want to say Stevie is the typical white bread, boy next door, blah blah. He seems like he has some fire in him."

"Fire in him? What do you mean? Stevie was just really nice."

"Well remember you told me about how you overheard him talking to Sam before your date?" Mercedes slowly nodded. "Yea that is not a man who is squeaky clean. He has some umph to him, you know, like he's feisty."

"Okay, yea I see what you're saying. It was nice to see those little moments, especially when he was a little drunk and seductive." Mercedes felt her lady parts stir at the memory of his voice. "And him on that motorcycle and picking me up...damn, how did I fuck that up Dee?"

"Yea, Stevie is fine as hell, yet annoying with how particular he is with everything." She rolled her eyes, "But he's sweet and a really good teacher. But, he moves too fast." She stretched her body out as she tried to figure out a way to express her thoughts. "Like he told you he falls too fast right?" Mercedes nodded, "Yea, he's also a clinger and that can get boring and unattractive really quickly. But his desire to always put you first and make you feel good was what really drew you in."

"Yea, like just the fact that he wanted to make sure I was okay when I first started working for Sam was really sweet and amazing." Mercedes smiled sadly at the memory.

"Yea but Stevie was dead wrong for going behind your back like that. Like after a long span of no calls and texts, he's just going to pop up like that and tell you that you've been replaced?*" Dee shook her head, "As sweet as his gesture was to find you another job and get you out of the situation, a grown man should not be making choices like that for a grown woman."

"I know and I told him that." Mercedes sighed and put her head into her hands.

"But I know he'd be tender in bed and hold you lovingly when you were done, which makes my panties disintegrate." Mercedes picked up a pillow and threw it at her sister. "Hey, I'm sorry these are two sexy ass men, literally, who are both flawed as hell. But now back to you sister oh dear." Mercedes groaned into her hands. "What the hell happened to you? You really let yourself get messed up."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Mercedes stared angrily at her sister.

"It means that you should have walked away from the situation the minute you noticed the hostility between the brothers. Yea it's hot to have men fight over you sometimes, but you should have never let it get to where it did. My sister wouldn't have done that."* Mercedes started to feel her face get hot and her vision began to blur.

"I know that Dee," she choked out, "I was never like that...you know I never let myself get drawn into situations like that. Like remember the Puck and Shane shit that went down in high school?" Dee nodded, Mercedes wiped her eyes but the tears kept flowing. "I walked away from that situation and I lost both of them, and I got scared it would happen again. This was really hard for me and it's like I'm the villain for not knowing what to do." She cried harder as Dee pat her back. "I made a mistake, a huge mistake...and I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I know, it's okay and I get that...but Merce?" Mercedes looked up at her sister, "the thing I can't figure out...is which one did you really love?" Mercedes stared at her sister and thought over her answer in her head.

"I...

* * *

><p>Stevie sat on the edge of his bed and tried to avoid falling asleep. It had been a week since he had the altercation with Mercedes and his brother and he had had the same nightmare from the night of the fight and every night after that for three days. He always woke up right before the end of it and to say that it terrified him was an understatement. This nightmare wasn't like the others he normally had, this nightmare was new. Even the way that it came to him weirded him out. Each day the dream would get more detailed and more would be shown to him. Usually he just saw a dark figure looming over him and the smell of whiskey...but now he could see a large balding man with angry green eyes. He thought he was staring at an older Sam, but he quickly realised after waking up that it was his father. He rubbed his face and stared at himself in his mirror. He looked exhausted and sick. He hadn't slept for the last two days out of fear that the nightmare would get worse. He didn't want to know what happened after his younger self struck the match in his nightmare. He didn't want to know if what Sam had said was true. He slowly got up and made his way to the kitchen, he needed more coffee if he was going to make it to work the next day.<p>

He got to the kitchen and picked up the light coffee can, _Shit...it's empty._ He knew he probably told himself to buy more but had forgotten from the lack of sleep. _Should I go buy some more?_ He walked towards his car keys and shook his head. _No...I feel drunk, I could hurt someone._ He sat down on his couch and rubbed his eyes. He thought about Mercedes and anger and hurt swelled in his chest. He figured she was probably at Sam's doing things that he didn't want to think about. He hadn't even spoken to his foster parents about anything, in fact he hadn't spoken to anyone aside from the pet owners at work. He sighed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He didn't even understand why he was crying. _She didn't want you...no one does...move on._ He sighed and stared at the pack of matches on his table. He rubbed his hands slowly back and forth on his thighs. His eye began to twitch and he reached for the pack but then quickly dropped his hand. _Stop it. _He stood up and walked back to his room. He lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. _Don't fall asleep, you can do this, just a few more hours to work._ He sighed and slowly felt his eyes close. _"WHO'S FAULT IS THAT HUH?" "THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD HAVE TAUGHT ME HOW TO LOVE WAS MOM AND YOU FUCKING KILLED HER, SO THANK YOU!"_ Stevie's eyes flew open and a small whimper escaped his mouth. He quickly got up and ran to the bathroom where he threw up the small breakfast he had that morning.

"I didn't...I couldn't have..." He slowly stood up and washed his face at the sink. His hands were shaking as he stared at himself. _You killed her...and you know it..._Stevie's entire body convulsed with the ferocity of his sobs. He hunched over the sink and cried until he had nothing left. He was tired physically and emotionally and he couldn't fight it anymore. He walked back to his bedroom and closed his swollen eyes. He decided that he was going to sleep.

_Stevie stared at the television and wished that he had a dad like Charles Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. He was always so nice to his kids and always stood up for them against bullies. Stevie wished his own dad was like that, but he knew he would never be. He hated his father, and his father hated him just as much. He looked over at Sam who was watching Mary Ingalls with a smile. Stevie knew that his brother had a crush on the blonde girl and it made him laugh._

"_You know she's like a hundred now right?" Sam tore his eyes away from the television and scowled at his brother. _

"_She is not." He rolled his eyes._

"_She is, look at their clothes and their house." He shook his head._

"_If it was so old, how did they film it?" Stevie was actually stumped and Sam's smirk showed him that Sam knew he had stumped him too. "Thought so." He looked back at the TV. "Aww dang Stevie, you made me miss the good part."_

_They had seen the episode thousands of times and it was Sam's favourite because it was a Mary centered episode. Stevie rolled his eyes and laughed. "Maybe we should ask mom when she wakes up." Stevie bit his lip._

"_Okay...now shaddup will ya?" Sam sat fixated on the scene and Stevie sighed. He was still upset with him for taking his matches, but he wasn't worried because he had a whole stash of them hidden in a sock in his drawer. He pat the pack in his pocket and made sure his brother didn't see him. He heard the front door open and he jumped. He immediately looked over at Sam who was staring back at him. There was a deep set fear in his eyes...as well as a hint of courage. Stevie often envied his brother for that little bit of bravery that he could never find within himself. Stevie heard his father's heavy footsteps heading towards the bathroom. He quickly tried to think if everything in there was clean. The toilet seat is down, Sam cleaned the tub, the toothpaste...Stevie's eyes widened and his breathing became heavy. He heard the footsteps coming back and he looked over at Sam who was giving him and odd expression._

_Stevie watched as the big balding man entered the living room. He literally stopped breathing and hoped that the man wouldn't notice him on the couch. The man glared at them._

"_Which one of you left the cap off of the toothpaste?" Stevie began to tremble at the man's voice. He knew it was him and he wanted to tell him what he had done but he had to put all of his energies in not trying to pee himself. The man looked at Sam and then slowly zoned in on him. He started to slowly, but drunkenly walk towards him with a smug smile on his face. Stevie was so terrified that he couldn't even blink. "It was you wasn't it?" he grinned, "get the belt." Stevie heard the words but he couldn't make himself move._

"_It was me!" Stevie looked over at Sam and watched him stand up. Their father looked confused for a moment and then smiled even wider. Stevie tried to force himself to speak but he couldn't. He stared at his brother and willed him with his mind to sit down, to tell the angry man that he was kidding._

"_Oh was it now?" his father laughed, "Should have known." He suddenly looked around. "Where's your mother?" Stevie watched Sam stare at the man and shrug. He would never be able to do that if he was in his place. Their father gave him a dirty look and walked towards the bedroom. Stevie tried to tell Sam to sit down but his voice got caught in his throat. His eyes began to well up and he could feel the hot tears roll down his face. Their dad came back smiling. _

"_Good your mother is passed out." He pointed towards Sam's bedroom. Sam quickly looked over at his younger brother and Stevie shook his head no. He didn't want Sam to get hurt because of him, that wasn't fair. Sam gave him a small smile and walked towards the bedroom. Their dad looked back at Stevie and glared at him as he followed behind Sam. Stevie felt nauseous as he stared at his father's retreating back. His hands began to shake and he rubbed his sweaty palms, back and forth on his skinny thighs. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little matchbook. He needed to see it, he needed to feel it. He ripped a match out and struck it against the back. He held the little match and stared at the warm flame. I can end all of this right now...if I just throw it. I can get us away from dad, I can let us go to a place where he would never be able to go, a place where he can never hurt us again. _

_He had learned from a school friend about heaven and hell. The boy had said that when you're good you go to heaven and when you're a bad person, you got to hell. He asked the boy if people in hell could ever get to heaven and hurt the people there, but the boy said no, that they are stuck in hell forever. Stevie knew for a fact that his dad was a bad person and would definitely go to hell if he died. He also knew that his mom and Sam were good people and that they could escape their dad if they went to heaven. He heard a loud smack and cringed. The only thing he wasn't sure about was where he was going to go if he did decide to throw the match. He knew he was a good person because the worst thing he ever did was accidentally steal a pencil from a friend once. But if he burned down the house...wouldn't he be a bad person, wouldn't he also go to hell. He wiped the warm tears from his eyes and blew out the flame that was quickly reaching his small fingers. He reached into the pack and struck another one. He didn't want to be away from mom and Sam...but if it meant that they'd be safe in heaven...then he'd be brave like Sam. He'd finally stand up to his father in hell. He stared at the flame and his hand itched to throw it. _

_But what if mom and Sam don't want to go to heaven...what if they got mad. Stevie frowned and blew out the match between his fingers. He wasn't sure if they had Little House on the Prairie in heaven and he wasn't sure if his mom would be okay without both him and Sam with her. Stevie shook his head. He couldn't do it...he had burnt his fingers before and it had really hurt him. He couldn't imagine doing that to his mom, he couldn't imagine making her or Sam hurt that way. His father, he really didn't care that much about...but he'd feel bad about it anyways. He nodded slowly to himself. I will not hurt them, I will become brave like Sam and one day...one day we will protect mom from that man. He stared at the unlit match and didn't notice that his father was watching him from the hallway. The man took a swig from his beer bottle and glared at his youngest son. The boy that looked so much like the wife he had lost to these two brats._

"_What are you doing?" he growled and stared at Stevie. Stevie held the match and stared in shock at his father. "Am I talking to myself?" he cocked his head to the side and walked towards the young boy. Stevie didn't blink as he stared at his father advancing towards him. "I hate you...do you know that?" He chuckled darkly, "I hate you even more than the other one, because you're weak like your mother. And I hate weak people...at least your brother is brave. You're just nothing." Stevie felt the tears fall down his face, but he still couldn't move. His father loomed over him and grabbed the match and snapped it in half and flicked it away. He grabbed the pack from Stevie's smaller hands and laughed in his face. Stevie could smell the heavy liquor on his father's breath, it was so strong that it stung his eyes. "Get out of my sight." He looked at Stevie as if he was a vile bug. The younger blonde slowly rose up and quickly walked around his father._

"_I-I'm not weak," he whispered," His father turned and stared at his younger son. "Good always beats evil..." Stevie clenched his fists and glared at his father. His father took a step towards him but Stevie didn't move. His father grabbed him by the neck and Stevie clenched his eyes from the pain. _

"_Get AWAY!" he pushed his son across the room. Stevie ran to his brother's room. He was proud and terrified all at the same time. Stevie remembered lying next to his brother and falling asleep. But no one would see what the tall balding man did while he was alone in the living room. Robert Evans drank the rest of his beer and walked to the kitchen to get another bottle. He pat the pack of cigarettes in his pocket and pulled it out. He put one in his mouth and laughed to himself as he shook his head, "Fucking kids..."_

_He sat down at the kitchen table and used the younger boy's pack of matches to light the cigarette that was dangling from his mouth. He took a long drag and blew out the smoke. He didn't care if his wife woke up and yelled at him. Robert had run out of all the fucks to give. He sat there blaming and hating everything for the way his life had turned out. _

_After five minutes or so he felt himself falling asleep and shook his head. He grumbled to himself, and staggered to the corner of the room. He tried to clear his blurry vision as he threw his lit cigarette into the garbage. He drunkenly walked to his room and passed out next to his wife. Nobody saw the fire that began to rise from the kitchen trash can. No one smelled the thickening black smoke that slowly made its way through the halls and the rooms. An entire household torn apart by hurt and pain, a household that would soon be torn apart by the flames of a careless gesture._

* * *

><p>Sam sat on his couch and stared at the black screen of his 42' television. He absent mindedly rubbed his left leg which was still sore. It was getting better thanks to the blood thinners, but the doctor advised him that the injury might always hurt him even after the clotting stopped. He rubbed his eyes and scratched the stubble on his chin. He had been having a lot of trouble sleeping due to the excessive amount of work that he needed to sort through for his cases. Even though Rachel had constantly sent him files while he was out of the office, he was still behind on setting up court dates, so that he could present his clients cases. He stretched out his arms and yawned. He had taken the day off so that he could work from the comfort of his home, but he had difficulty concentrating because of the lack of sleep.<p>

It didn't help that whenever he closed his eyes he saw the pain on Stevie's face right after he blurted out the one thing he had tried to keep from his brother his entire life. The minute the words tumbled out of Sam's mouth his heart stopped and he wanted nothing more than to take it all back or at least take the pain his brother was feeling and put it on himself. He had just gotten so mad.

All his damn life he had tried to do everything and anything for his brother, so for him to come in and say the things that he did had just pushed him over the edge. Half of him was happy that it was off his chest and into the world, but the other half of him couldn't cope with the pain he had inflicted on his only real family. He leaned back in the couch and rubbed his neck. Sometimes it still acted up from the first car accident he had. _I should just fucking walk, oh wait, that almost got me killed too._ Sam quickly realised that he wasn't even mad with Stevie... he was just disappointed at how shit went down. All those years of staying quiet during the therapy sessions so that no one would think Stevie was crazy, and he fucked it up in one fit of anger. Sam shook his head in disbelief.

He covered his face and groaned. He missed his brother and he was still slightly mad at Mercedes. But he wondered if they were okay after everything that happened. She hadn't come back with the coffee, so he had assumed that she had left with Stevie. Which he was kind of happy about, since he didn't want Stevie to be alone...especially after what Sam had said. He sighed and got up to go get a drink from the kitchen when he heard the doorbell. He raised his eyebrow and wondered if it was Veronica. They had made plans for the night, but sometimes she popped by just to check on him, especially after he had told her what had happened with Stevie. He slightly limped to the door and swung it open. His jaw fell as he stared at the person on his doorstep.

"Hey...I know I have keys...but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for me to just come on in...you know after everything." Stevie squinted at his brother and was nervous about being there. It had taken him an entire week after the night he had his nightmare, to finally get the guts to drive over to Sam's. He would usually get into his car, freak out, and then repeat the same thing the next day. But today he finally he managed to drive all the way and he had stood on the doorstep for fifteen minutes before he willed himself to press the doorbell. The two brothers awkwardly stared at each other until Sam reached out and pulled his brother into a strong embrace.

"Loki," Sam squeezed his brother, "Welcome home to Asgard brother," Sam said in a deep voice. Stevie started to laugh as he hugged his brother back.

"Thor, does this mean all is forgiven?" he said over his brother's shoulder.

"No...I think I shall still kill you." Sam leaned back and smiled at his brother. "Hey little bro."

Stevie smiled back. "Sup old man?" Sam stepped back and let Stevie into the house. "But seriously are we okay?" he said as he followed him into the kitchen.

"I'm okay if you're okay?" Sam sat down at the kitchen table and Stevie sat across from him.

"...Well that's what I came to talk to you about." Stevie bit his lip, "I remember...everything Sam." He stared at his brother and Sam's eyes widened. His brother's words seemed to register in his mind as he slowly nodded. "I remember mom...and I remember...that man." Stevie looked to the side and he didn't need any further explanation because Sam knew exactly who he was talking about. "It was bad...it was really bad for us."

"Yea...it was." Sam cleared his throat and tried to push down the anger he felt towards his father. "It was fucking hell." He looked down at his hands on the table. "That man...was the ugliest and most abusive person I have ever met...and I'm not sad that he's dead." Sam pushed his chair back from the table and got up and paced back and forth.

"Yea...I'm still having nightmares about him, but now I actually see the balding hair and the angry eyes..."Stevie sighed, "Sometimes I dream about mom too..."Sam stopped pacing and stared at him, "I look a lot like her." Sam nodded and looked over his brother's face.

"Yea, you really do," he said quietly.

"I didn't kill them...I didn't kill her." Stevie blurted out quickly and Sam sat down again. "I remember the night dad beat you because of the toothpaste thing, do you remember?" Sam nodded, of course he remembered, that was the night their entire life changed. "You protected me and got beat by dad in the room. I was so messed up that I stared at the matches, but I didn't burn the house down...dad took the packet away from me." Sam squinted his eyes.

"You know all of this through a dream?" he stared at Stevie in confusion.

"Yea...I started to have it after..." he quickly looked at Sam and then away, "the hospital thing. So I don't know how the fire started exactly...I just know I didn't do it." Stevie looked into his brother's eyes and hoped that he believed him. Sam sighed.

"I believe you." Stevie nodded and a small smile crossed his lips. "This is some weird supernatural shit. Nightmares showing you your past...it's like ghosts trying to make you see things."

"Man, I swear we're like those brothers from that monster hunting show...uh Super Nature or something." Sam gave him a weird look. "You know the win-something brothers and one has like a demon following him."

"That sounds really dumb." Sam laughed. "That's why I hardly watch TV."

"No, see he had a demon on his back and I feel like I have demons you know?" He shrugged.

"Then you need an exorcism and maybe Jesus, and Oprah...she knows her shit." Sam grinned and Stevie rolled his eyes.

"There was a dude named Michael and he tried to steal one of their bodies."

"Michael?" Sam's eyes grew wide, "Michael Jackson! That's fucked up Stevie, I think you should stop watching that show." Sam got lost in his own thoughts, "Like I'm uncomfortable with Michael Jackson possessing bodies. What do you think he would do with them?"

"Sam..." Stevie tried to bring his brother's attention back. He hadn't meant for them to stray so far off the seriousness of the topic.

"Oh my God, do you think he'd make them do the moonwalk?" Sam grinned at the thought.

"Sam," Stevie said a bit louder.

"If that's the case then I might want Michael Jackson to possess me." Sam chuckled to himself.

"SAM!" Stevie yelled and Sam looked at his brother's serious expression. "I think... I think I need help." Sam stared at him in confusion.

"What kind of help?" He leaned back in his chair. Stevie fidgeted with his hands.

"I think I need to see a therapist...and I think you do too." Sam felt his face getting hot.

"I don't need to see a therapist and neither do you, we're fine." He said between tight lips. Stevie shook his head.

"No we're not. The things that I remember now and the way that I feel..." he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You've remembered this the entire time and never said a word about it to anyone."

"Yea and that's because I don't need to, I don't need someone telling me I'm crazy."

"Sam this is important though, I think we shou-"

"NO!" Sam yelled. "I'm not doing it."

"Sam you fucking blamed me for killing our mother! You kept that anger inside you all these years and you don't think we need help? I played with fire to comfort me as a kid and—"

"We're fine now, we're over that!" Sam spoke over Stevie, "I'm sorry that I blamed you, but I love you and we will make it passed all of th—" Stevie suddenly stood up and slammed his hand on the table.

"I AM NOT FINE! I AM NOT OVER THAT!" Sam watched as tears fell from his eyes. "I still light matches Sam...I still do it." Sam stared at his brother in surprise, Stevie looked down in shame. "I only do it when I'm really agitated or really upset...but I still do it...and I've tried to stop..." he wiped his eyes, "But I can't...I can't do this alone," he whispered. "We're not okay...we're a fucking time bomb just waiting to explode." Sam looked at his brother's face and he couldn't believe he didn't know Stevie was still feeling like that. "We're both always angry...and we crack jokes... but something's wrong. You've protected me all of your life...you had a huge burden on you for years. That's a problem Sam." Stevie stared back at his brother. "We're two grown men...with one fucked up past. And I'm going to go to see someone with or without you...but I really need my brother."

Sam closed his eyes. He knew he was always angry and he knew that his anger had messed things up with Mercedes and had almost gotten him killed. He didn't want to be vulnerable. He didn't want to think that anything was wrong with him. But deep down he knew that if he ever wanted to really grow up and move on with his life, then this was a hell of a good way to start. He kept his eyes closed and slowly nodded. Stevie almost missed the small and silent 'okay' that finally fell from his brother's lips.

"...Okay?" Stevie asked hesitantly. "So, we're going to do this." Sam sighed and nodded again.

"Don't expect me to talk though." He folded his arms over his chest. Stevie smirked. He knew that his brother would eventually talk, but he was okay with waiting for it to happen.

"I wouldn't expect anything different from you old man." Sam looked into his brothers blue eyes and saw the hope there. _I'm going to try little bro...I'm going to try._

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Emotional hour is now over," Sam stood up and smiled, "let's get drunk and bang some chicks." Stevie rolled his eyes.

"I don't think Mercedes would be okay with that." He started walking towards the living room.

"Oh yea...she has you on a tight leash eh?" Sam followed behind his brother. He made a whipping noise and laughed. Stevie stopped abruptly, turned around, and stared at his brother.

"Has _me _on a tight leash? Why would she have _me_ on a tight leash?" Sam looked at his brother in confusion.

"Well you said she wouldn't let you drink and bang chicks...so that sounds like she has your balls stored away in her panty drawer." Sam shrugged.

"But wait, aren't you and Mercedes together?" Stevie raised his eyebrow.

"No...I'm...no we're not together." Sam started laughing, "Are you trying to tell me, that neither of us are with Mercedes?" Stevie shook his head.

"No, I left her at the hospital." Stevie looked angry and slightly guilty. "I broke it off and told her to go take care of you."

"She never came back...why'd you break it off anyways." Stevie sighed and walked into the living room.

"You got time?" He sat down on the couch. Sam smirked.

"Well I had some plans with a pretty lady...but I guess I can make time for my jackass brother."

* * *

><p>Stevie ran around his house looking for his motorcycle keys. He told Sam that he was going to hang out with him and Veronica that night for some beers. He groaned, <em>damn keys.<em> He reached into his leather jacket pocket again and heard the jingle. He smirked and threw on his coat. He was excited, he hadn't ridden his motorcycle for weeks and he was ready for the fast machine. He grabbed his helmet from the closet and opened the door. He jumped.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to scare you..." She smiled up at him and then cocked her head to the side. "You know, we need to stop meeting like this." Stevie stared at her as if he had seen a ghost. He couldn't form any words to say. She looked over at his helmet. "Are you going out? I can come back another time...I should have called." She bit her lip. "I was just scared that you wouldn't answer your phone." Stevie finally found his voice and coughed.

"Uh...yea, I was heading out to hang with Sa-some friends." Mercedes slowly nodded and looked down. Stevie stared down at her and his heart ached, he had a strong urge to pull her into his arms and just hug her sadness away. Yet another part of him truly wanted to push past her and run to his bike. He sighed. "But they can wait." She looked up and gave him a sad smile.

"I don't deserve your time...but thank you," she whispered. Stevie stepped back and let her into the house. He slowly closed the door behind her and stared at her as she sat down on the couch. He leaned his head against the cold door. He took a deep breath, walked to the living room, and sat down across from her. She was twisting her ring. "Stevie...I don't even know how to begin here...I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am for hurting you." She bit her lip and spun her ring faster. "I love everything you are, I love the fact that you're so caring and loving...and I'm sorry that I took advantage of that." Stevie looked to the side and tried to calm his emotions. "If I could take it all back, I would do it in a heartbeat...but the pain has already happened, I've already fucked up and hurt you...and all I can do is say that I am so so sorry." He looked back into her eyes and watched her tears fall. He wasn't even sure if she knew she was crying.

"I never meant to put a wedge between you and your brother...in my mind it was always you, it was always you that I wanted." She shook her head and wiped her cheek. "You reminded me so much of someone I knew before and I saw him in you. He was the most loving person and I loved him with every bit of my heart." Her voice cracked so she cleared her throat. She took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. "But I didn't love you like that...I loved you for everything that you chose to be...but I didn't love you the way you deserved me too."

"Then why didn't you just leave? Why did you choose me, if you never even loved me Mercedes?" Stevie stood up and glared down at the woman in front of him, "I wanted be with you...I wanted to make you happy and you used me...you used me to fill a void in your life."

"But didn't you do the same to me?" she stood up and glared at him, "Didn't you use me to fill that void of a missing family in your life? You put so much pressure on me Stevie to be perfect like you and...I'm not...I never can be." she covered her face and Stevie's heart broke just watching her. "I was wrong...I was so wrong...I know now that I should have walked away, but I didn't." He was surprised that he could hear her muffled words. He walked towards her and pulled her into a hug.

"Cedes, I just wanted you...I just wanted you." She nodded into his chest and looked up at him. He sighed, "And you're right...I wanted a family really badly...I think we just moved too fast." He bit his lip, "I moved too fast." She leaned back to look at him better.

"Maybe, after some time...maybe then we can see where we are." She shrugged, "But right now...I don't think this could have worked." He wiped his eyes. _Shit, I'm crying._ He didn't want to feel pathetic by speaking in case his voice cracked from the tears. So he just slowly nodded. She moved back and stared at him with a small smile. "I think I should go now."

He cleared his throat. "Yea...that's...that's a good idea." She turned around and walked to the door. He slowly followed behind her and hoped that his eyes weren't red. He inwardly groaned and wondered if he should cancel his drinking date with his brother and Ronnie. Sam would know for sure that something was wrong...but Stevie didn't want to stay at home by himself either. She opened the door and looked over at the silent man.

"You are so amazing and I hope that whatever is hurting you in your life...I hope you can fix that." She gave him a sympathetic smile. He chewed his bottom lip and nodded. She gave a quick wave and walked out of the house. He stood by the door and stared after her. He had a feeling that he would see her again at some point...but he knew that emotionally he wasn't ready for her, or anybody for that matter. He just prayed to God, that his therapy session on Monday with Sam went well. He was going to have a lot that he needed to speak about.

* * *

><p>Sam stretched out his arms and rubbed his face. He had been sitting in his office chair for way too long. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. It had been a long ass day with stupid people who didn't even know how to steal candy from a baby the right way. His stomach was also still upset after looking at Rachel's new dress that morning. He had forgotten how ugly her clothes were over his time away from the office. He had handed her his coat to wear for the rest of the day, so that he would be able to concentrate without feeling nauseous.<p>

He sighed and squinted at his computer screen. Everything was jumbled up. He rubbed his eyes. Maybe he could talk to the therapist at their next session about his dyslexia. He wasn't ready to talk about his dad...but at least he could talk to Dr. Emma Pillsbury about his troubles with being dyslexic. When he and Stevie walked out of her office, Sam had pulled him aside.

"_So are we going to ignore how huge they were?" Sam raised his eyebrows._

"_Yea she has some huge...you know." His brother grinned at him._

"_Right? I couldn't fucking stop staring at them." Sam shook his head in disbelief._

_Stevie laughed, "Do you think she noticed?"_

"_Probably..." he smirked, "That chick has some big eyes." Stevie laughed harder._

"_I know...we should call her Bambi."_

_Sam pounded his fist on his hand like a gavel, "It is law!"_

Sam chuckled as he stared at the screen. He pulled out the pamphlet she had given him, _So you think your brother_ _is a pyromaniac, nah, he just has daddy issues. _Sam rolled his eyes, _I can't concentrate._ He sighed and stood up. He wouldn't be able to get anymore work done tonight. _Maybe I can get Stevie and Veronica to come see The Avengers with me again tonight._ He had already seen it three times, but this time he wanted to dress up as Thor. He already convinced Stevie to get Loki's costume from the rental shop. He didn't even have to say more than two words to Ronnie to get the Black Widow costume, in fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that she already had one. He grinned, _that girl is a definite freak, probably crushing cans in her butt for fun._ He laughed out loud at the thought and packed up his things.

He flung his coat over his shoulder and carried his suitcase with the other hand. He whistled Sir Mix-A-lot's, Baby Got Back as he walked outside and he stopped to fish his keys out of his jacket pocket once he had gotten closer to his car.

"Baby Got Back?" he heard a voice and looked up to see the shorter woman leaning on his car. "Classy." She grinned. Sam stared at her as she walked towards him. His mouth tightened into a thin line. "How's your leg?" She looked down at it and Sam took a deep breath.

"It's better...how are you?" he clutched his coat to his chest. "I mean...um...yea, how are you?" She grinned and shrugged.

"I'm alright I guess. Are you busy right now?...I just wanted to talk to you." She twisted her ring and Sam stared at her hand. She followed his gaze and smiled, "Thanks again for getting it back for me. I'm lost without this ring." He nodded his thanks and continued walking to his car.

"We can talk in here...if that's cool with you?" He turned to look at her over his shoulder. She bit her lip and nodded and walked over to the passenger's side. He unlocked the doors and threw his suitcase into the back seat. He watched her slip into the passenger's side and he tried to calm himself down. He slowly sat in the driver's seat and closed the door. "So...?" He put the front light on and turned to look at her. She was staring straight ahead. "Let's talk then."

He watched her take a deep breath and turn her head to stare at him. "You were the biggest asshole I had ever met." Sam's eyes grew wide and he raised his eyebrow.

"Um...thank you?" he stared at her in confusion.

"You were mean...and you treated me like complete and utter shit." She looked down, "But you changed...you changed into this man..." she smiled, "This man that I couldn't get out of my head...even when I tried to." she looked up, "And trust me...I tried." Sam grinned. "Sometimes I wanted to punch you and other times I wanted to hold you, I wanted to do anything to make you feel better...not just because it was my job, and not because I wanted something from you. But because I ...I just felt a lot for you."

"You felt a lot for me?" he said quietly, "What do I make you feel Mercy?" She laughed.

"You make me feel EVERYTHING!" she threw her hands in the air. "You make me mad, you make me sad, you make me happy, you fucking scared me a lot, you just made me feel a lot." She looked into his eyes. "You made me want to love you...so badly. And in my heart...I think I did."

"You think you did?" He was squinting at her and his head hurt, "Mercedes just...just fucking be straight with me, what did you feel?" she stared at him and he saw the sadness cloud her eyes.

"I can't love someone like you...not now." He felt his face get hot and turned his head to stare out his window. "I tried to move past the hurt...but I can't. I can forgive the way you treated me, but I can't really forget." He felt the warm tears fall down his face and he licked his lips. "Sam...I'm leaving town." He turned to look at her.

"Why?" he said quietly, "Why do you need to leave town?" She smiled sadly.

"I need to start fresh somewhere else. I need space from my mother and everything I'm familiar with. I need to grow the hell up and I can't do that here." She bit her lip and Sam shook his head.

"Don't leave." Her lip trembled and he saw her eyes water up. "Don't leave Mercy..." he said so quietly that she almost missed it.

"I have to, I found a job with a beautiful little girl that needs my help...and her family is so sweet." She lightly touched his face, "Sam...the way I acted was wrong and you were right about EVERYTHING you said that day. I was immature, I shouldn't have dated Stevie, you were right...I should have listened to you." He nodded. "I need to figure myself out and I want to show you guys the real Mercedes, and I want you to show me the real Sam." Sam wiped his eyes and sighed.

"Who do you think the real Sam is? I am the real Sam." Mercedes slowly shook her head.

"No...the real Sam was the man that I saw playing with those kids that day. The real Sam is a loving jerk who would do anything for the people he loves." She put her hand down. "I want you to find that Sam again and when you do, tell him to come see the real Mercy. I want to start over...can we do that?" Sam looked straight ahead.

"I don't know, I guess we'll just have to see what happens from here." Mercedes looked down. She hadn't expected that answer. "Right now...I'm who I am. I've always been who I am and that won't change Mercedes. But if _you_ need some time to find _yourself_...then fine, you go do that. And when _you _find _yourself_, you come talk to me. Because the real Sam will always be here." she wiped her eyes and nodded. "I never wanted to hurt you...I acted like an ass to push you away...I guess I succeeded huh?" Mercedes opened the car door and put her foot out. Sam turned his head to look at her.

"Yea...you did." She stared back at him, "But I'm stubborn...so I'll be back." She smirked and stepped out of the car. She bent down and looked at him, "I just need to know something..." _Ask him about Veronica, ask him. "_Are you and...Stevie okay now?" Sam smiled.

"Yea, the weirdo and I are okay now." Mercedes smiled sadly. She wanted to know about Veronica...but right now it didn't matter. It was just better if she didn't know.

"Good...I'm really sorry about almost destroying that." She bit her lip.

"Nothing can destroy my relationship with Stevie." He grinned, "He ain't heavy...he's my brother."

She smiled and nodded. "Well...I guess I'll see you in a few months then." Sam slowly nodded.

"Good luck Ms. Jones...I can't wait to meet you in a few months." Mercedes laughed and winked.

"I can't wait to meet you too." She smiled and closed the door. Sam leaned his head on his steering wheel and sighed. He was going to miss her...a lot.

Mercedes walked to her car and smiled even though she was crying. She knew she was going to miss a lot of people, but it was about time that she got to know herself before she attempted to date anyone. She decided that she needed to love herself a hell of a lot more before she could even try to love either Evans man. She pulled her car keys out of her pocket and turned her head to stare after the car pulling out of the parking lot. She sighed and took a deep breath. It wasn't the happy ending that she had wanted. But for right now...it was the happy ending that she needed.

Edit: Hello lovely people! So for those who have been reviewing, if you see things in here that you're like "I totally said that!" it's probably because you did. Your ideas were fan fricking tastic and I incorporated many into my writing. So thank you! I would love to credit you specifically but my brain is tired and I wanted to get this chapter out there. I will go through them at some point and individually message my thanks! This is not the last chapter...there is technically one more...it's the epilogue. But not an epilogue you'd expect, remember, I'm going to keep you on your toes ;) thanks to Jona for helping me with my ideas and thanks to Drea for being my beta!


	19. Epilogue

Mercedes looked at herself in the mirror as she applied the plum coloured lipstick to her lips. It wasn't a very bold colour but it accentuated the plumpness and curves of her mouth. She pulled out a Kleenex from the box, put it between her lips and gently pressed down. She added a little bit of gloss and smiled at herself. She couldn't believe how far she had come in the last two years since she had come back from the Rue's.

Leaving town and taking care of Andrea C. Rue, the little girl who had been gravely ill, had given her the time she needed to find out who she was. She knew that she had been so messed up before she left, but she never understood the extent to her problems until she had actually started her new job. She sat down and played with the five year old and medically took care of her every day, and each day showed her how strong the little girl was in comparison to her. Here she was a woman in her late twenties who couldn't sit down and properly figure out what her heart had been telling her for months. Then there was this little girl who had to stay strong and be brave, every single day.

At night, she would rest her head on her pillows and think about everything that had happened as if it was a perfectly laid out story in front of her. She would go over a memory with Sam and remember a gesture or words that he would say, and she would remember her reactions to everything. She mentally scolded herself over and over when she realised that most of his asshole-ish behaviour was indeed them flirting, and she wondered why she had overreacted so much. Yes, the man had his issues, but for the most part, their angry bantering had been in jest.

Many times her heart hurt knowing that her inability to choose between the brothers had almost destroyed everything, especially their brotherly relationship. She grabbed another Kleenex and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. _Stop crying, Cedes you just did your make up girl._ She sighed and re-applied her eyeliner. She had a sneaky suspicion that she would have to re-apply it a lot that day. She lightly ran her hand down her hair and made sure that her bun was still neat and in place. Pleased with the style, she began to drift back into thought.

Sometimes when Andrea was taking a nap, Mercedes would just sit on the rocking chair in her room and sing quietly to the little girl. It often helped her fall asleep, especially when she had pains because it soothed her. When Mercedes noticed that she was sleeping, she would continue to rock on the chair, close her eyes, and just think about her life.

She thought about whom she was in high school and how strong she had been to tell Puck and Shane that she couldn't be with either of them. It was the decision she had made after she had kissed Puck on the school stage while she was still dating Shane. It wasn't the person who she wanted to be and she couldn't forgive herself for hurting her boyfriend. As much as Puck wanted her to effortlessly start a relationship with him, she couldn't and chose to be alone to find herself. It had hurt both men, but she knew that she had needed time to be alone without either of them. But in the end she had lost them anyways, which was why she panicked at the thought of losing Sam or Stevie from her life. She knew that she was still in the wrong for choosing Stevie, when she really had no idea what her feelings were doing. That's why she made the decision to leave. It was a decision that she knew she should have made before.

She knew that she was going to be away for five months and she didn't know if they would still be there when she got back. And had they moved on, she would have been sad, but she would have understood. They were handsome grown men, so they were bound to catch someone's eye.

Mercedes stood up and walked to the window to get some air. She felt very nauseous and she prayed that today of all days that she didn't throw up. She walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a ginger-ale to calm her stomach. She leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and placed her hand on her stomach.

By the time her job had been finished and her little patient had started to get better, she had finally realised who she had loved the entire time. She literally screamed when the reality dawned on her after months of thinking and she couldn't understand what had taken her so damn long to realise what was always right in front of her eyes. As happy as she was with herself to realise who it had been, she was sad to know that he probably wouldn't look her way ever again after everything they had gone through. But then she thought back to the night that they had spoken and she had to wonder...what had happened had to mean something. She decided that she would go back to town and finally be strong and just tell him how she felt. If he didn't feel the same way anymore or if he had moved on...then she would move on too. She would continue to grow as a person with or without him and she was going to stay strong. She didn't leave to find herself, just to get lost again. But what happened when she came back, she would have never believed in a million years.

Mercedes heard a knock on the door and opened her eyes. She put the can down and walked over to the door.

"Hey baby," her mother said as she peered at her. Mercedes smiled and stepped back for her mother to come in. "How's my Cattie doing?"

"I'm good mom...just really nervous," she said as she slowly closed the door to have it blocked by a foot.

"Lord, no need to lock me out just because it's your big day," Mercedes laughed and opened the door for her sister.

"I didn't see you fool." The two short women embraced. Mercedes looked at her mother who was tearing up as she looked over her eldest daughter. "Aww, mom don't cry, you're going to make me cry." She tried to hold back the tears that she could already see blurring her vision.

"Yea and I am not doing her makeup again, so you best stop." Dee said laughing, but Mercedes could see that she was tearing up too. Mercedes poked her sister in the side. "Oww," she playfully swatted Mercedes arm, "hey no need to be a Bridezilla here." Their mom clapped her hands together and smiled.

"Alright, we have to get her into her dress. Dee can you go to the closet and get it." Dee nodded and walked over to pull out the strapless, beautifully beaded, wedding dress. Mercedes had to look away from it so that she didn't cry. Her emotions were all over the place this morning. "Okay, so let's pool it on the ground so that she can just step into it. The two women bent over and helped make a perfect circle for Mercedes to step into, so that she didn't ruin the dress. She walked forward and Dee lifted it up and her mother went around her back to zip it up. "Cattie, you been eating too much sample cake young woman," her mother said as the zipper struggled to go up. Mercedes eyes grew wide and she saw her sister giving her a curious look from the corner of her eye.

_Almost a month and a bit earlier, Mercedes rested her head on her fiancées chest as they lazily relaxed on the couch. Mercedes bit her lip as she thought about the news she had gotten that day._

"_Babe..." she looked up at him and saw that his eyes were closed. For a second she wondered if he was asleep._

"_Mhm..." he said drowsily. He was lightly rubbing her back which was soothing her. It was what she really needed at that precise moment._

"_I love you," she said quietly. He grinned._

"_I love you too." She smiled at him even though he still had his eyes closed._

"_Good because I'm pregnant." She stared at his face and his hand stilled. His eyes flew open and he stared down into her brown ones. "The doctor said that I'm two weeks pregnant. We're having a baby," A few moments passed and she got slightly worried when he didn't blink. "Babe...say something please," she whispered. He slowly sat up and got off of the couch. She watched him nervously until he got down on his knees and put his head in her lap._

"_I'm so happy right now." She watched his body shake as he cried. "I...I've always wanted to be a dad you know...I've always wanted to be the man that my father never was. I'm going to love and spoil and take care of this baby." She wiped her own tears and lifted his head to stare into his eyes. "I love the baby already and I don't even know it yet." He grinned at her and her heart burst with love. He leaned up and gave her a soft lingering kiss and she wrapped her arms around his neck._

"_Let's keep it a surprise until after the wedding." The blonde man nodded and kissed her again._

She placed her hand on her stomach and smiled, "Sorry mom, the cake was just so good though, right Dee?" Dee threw her head back and imitated Homer Simpson.

She made a gurgling noise, "MMMM cake." Mercedes and her mother laughed. Her mom tugged on the zipper a few more times before it glided up her back. At the mention of cake, Mercedes thought back to the cake testing and started to giggle to herself.

_Sam, Stevie, Dee, and herself stood around a rich four tier red velvet cake with a nice butter cream icing. The sales woman had let them all try a piece and Dee and Mercedes about had an orgasm from the taste._

"_This is the cake, we're getting it," Mercedes said to her sister who in turn quickly nodded._

"_Girl, if you didn't buy this cake I'd beat you with my new platforms." The sisters laughed together and squealed. Stevie cleared his throat and picked up a little place card that was beside the cake._

"_Um...did you two ladies see the price for said cake?" Dee took it from him and looked it over. She handed it back to him and rolled her eyes._

"_Saw it...no one cares." Stevie handed the card to his brother. Sam's eyes grew wide._

"_The fuck...does the store come with this price too? How can one cake be so expensive?" He shook his head._

"_Listen here, dumb dumbs, this is Mercedes' wedding day and if this is the cake that she wants, then ya'll need to give her the cake that she wants." Mercedes grinned and nodded._

"_She speaks the truth." She put her arm around her sister's shoulders._

"_Her wedding day?" the brothers slowly looked at each other from the corners of their eyes. "Um...I thought it took two people to get married?" Sam scratched the back of his neck._

"_Dennis Rodman did it by himself, so you can shut your face," Dee said, while glaring at the taller man._

"_Ohhhh you done learned today," Stevie muttered under his breath and Sam smacked him hard on the arm. "Ow."_

"_Whatever, I'm not the one paying for the cake anyways." Sam grinned and stared at his younger brother. Stevie rolled his eyes. He looked over at Mercedes and smiled._

"_Yea, yea...go get the lady and tell her we're getting it." Mercedes and Dee squealed, and ran off to get Mercedes her dream cake._

Mercedes took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Oh my God...I'm so nervous." She fanned herself with her hand. "I need to sit down." She walked over to her chair by the mirror and stretched out her legs.

"What is wrong with you? You love this man, he loves you, and you live together. Ya'll are pretty much married already." Dee said with her hand on her hip. "In my opinion, this is all just to make it legitimate." Mercedes smiled.

"Dee hush, may I remind you that you're already married. So you've already had your jittery nerves. Now it's time for your sister to feel the same way." Dee rolled her eyes and grinned before she tenderly touched the ring on her left hand. Mercedes looked at the gesture and grinned. She couldn't believe her little sister had gotten married before she did. There was a knock on the door and their mom walked over to it and opened it slightly. She spoke quietly with the person at the door before she turned around and addressed Dee. "Your husband wants to set things up at the front with you." Dee laughed.

"Jeese, everybody wants a little piece of Dee." She walked over to her sister and kissed her cheek. "I love you...you look so beautiful Merce."

"I love you too and thank you." The sisters hugged and Dee kissed her mom on the cheek.

"You look beautiful too ma," she said while walking to the door. Her mother grinned.

"Your husband just said the same thing to me," their mother chuckled.

"Good...I taught him well," she said as she opened the door.

"Excuse me? You taught who what? Oh we're going to have a little talk about that, my little wife." They heard the deep voice behind the door. Dee laughed and slipped outside with her husband. Her mom looked over at her daughter and smiled.

"Is my name Stuart? No? Then who the hell are you calling little?" They heard Dee say before the door closed.

"I swear those two were made for each other," Mercedes said as she stared after her sister. She played with her dad's ring and realised that she would have to take it off for the wedding. She took it off, kissed it, and placed it in her purse that was on the table. "Mom can you help me with my veil please?" her mother wiped her teary eyes after seeing Mercedes loving gesture of taking off her father's ring. She walked over and picked up the medium length veil from the mannequin head and clipped it right above Mercedes' bun. She secured it with some bobby pins and stared at her daughter's reflection in the mirror.

"I'm so proud of you Cattie...and your father would be so proud too." Mercedes stared at her mother in the mirror and smiled. "You are beautiful and you are marrying a good man. You're successful and you're strong." She placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders and Mercedes lightly placed her right hand on her mother's left. "I love you." The tears fell from Mercedes eyes.

"I love you too mom." Mercedes gently wiped her face, got up and stood beside her mother. "You ready?" The older woman nodded. Her mother pulled the veil over Mercedes face and smiled proudly at her daughter. The two women walked arm in arm to the open doors of the chapel. Mercedes took a few more breaths before she heard the wedding march start to play. She looked at her mother and dropped her hand to hold the older woman's. Her mother grinned and squeezed it as they started walking down the aisle together. Mercedes locked eyes with her soon to be husband and she felt as if she was going to break down and cry from all of the happiness. So she decided to glance at the faces of the people in the pews as she walked. She spotted Joe and Diane Wallace sitting at the front and smiled. Diane was crying heavily and Joe was trying to comfort his wife with one hand as he held Bertha with the other. Mercedes tried hard not to laugh at the sight.

"_Mom...dad...this is Mercedes Jones." He had introduced her to his foster parents._

"_You are quite the beauty, young lady," Diane smiled at the shorter woman, "Come, give me a hug." Mercedes eyebrows raised but she smiled and hugged the taller woman. _

"_Ahhh the nurse," Joe grinned at her, "Want to take my pressure?" Diane smacked her husband's arm. "Damn woman, I'm just kidding. Nice to meet you Ms. Jones" Mercedes laughed and hugged the man._

"_Mercedes is fine, no need for the Jones." She smiled._

"_Ahh and her voice is attractive too!" Mercedes laughed and blushed at the man. "Good thing you went with this one," he pointed his thumb at the blonde man, "I think the other brother's a bit crazy!" he laughed and winked. His wife hit him again._

"_He is not, don't mind him, he's just bitter." Mercedes nodded, "Alright let's get some food in your stomachs." Mercedes held her boyfriend's hand as they followed his family. He brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed it, before mouthing the words "I love you" to her._

Mercedes smiled at the couple who she would soon be calling her in laws. She continued to walk down the aisle and her eyes landed on her fiancée who she could now see was crying. _This man's going to make me break._ She inwardly shook her head and tried to focus. _These baby emotions are throwing me off too_, she smiled at the thought of her baby and had to force herself not to touch her stomach.

She looked over at her sister who was standing at the right side of the altar. She was smiling widely and Mercedes could tell that she was excited, because she kept shifting her feet. She loved her little sister so much. She watched as Dee slowly turned her head to the right and stared at her husband. Mercedes looked over at her brother in law who was beaming at her and as if he sensed his wife looking at him, he slowly turned his head to return the look. Dee stuck her tongue out at him and he stuck his tongue back out at her. Mercedes was going to have to pinch her sister later for that. However, she grinned at the amount of love coming from the couple. They smiled at each other and then respectfully turned their head to smile at Mercedes and her mother.

_Mercedes reached over her sleeping boyfriend and grabbed her phone. The blonde man held her tighter and snuggled his head between her breasts. She looked at the time and saw that it was three AM before she answered._

"_Dee...it is three AM, something better be wrong or Imma kill you." She said groggily into the phone._

"_Merce I know I'm sorry! We just got back...Oh my God Mercedes, we eloped!" Mercedes quickly sat up in bed causing her boyfriend to wake up._

"_You did what?" her boyfriend opened one eye and stared at her before he turned on the light._

"_What's happening?" he leaned his chin on her shoulder._

"_We got married in Vegas!" Mercedes sat on her bed stunned before her face broke out into a wide ass smile._

"_No fucking way!" she squealed, "Dee, I'm so fucking excited!"_

"_What happened...?" Her boyfriend kissed her shoulder._

"_They got married!" His eyes flew open and he stared at her in shock, she looked back at him with just as wide eyes. "I know right?" _

"_I know, oh my God Merce, we're so happy right now...oh my God...it just hit me. I'm Mrs. Delores Evans!" Her sister started to laugh. Mercedes couldn't even believe what she was hearing. She put her hand to her chest and almost started to cry with joy. "Mom's gonna have my ass, but I regret nothing."_

_Mercedes laughed. "Where's your husband?" She couldn't believe he was her brother in law now. It should have felt weird but it didn't. "Put him on the phone so that his brother and I can congratulate the knuckle head too."_

"_Fool's trying to open champagne, you should see him Merce, his eye is twitching from the strain of trying to open it. He keeps saying I got it, I got it, every damn time I try to help him. So you know what? He is like Patti Labelle, HE IS ON HIS OWN." Her sister squealed with laughter. "Now he's attacking me...got to go, we'll come by tomorrow!"_

"_Okay, bye sis." Mercedes hung up the phone and stared at the blonde man beside her._

"_Well, fuck me." he said, his eyes still wide with shock._

"_Okay!" she giggled and leaned over to kiss his full lips._

Mercedes grinned at the memory as she stood two steps away from the man she loved. She looked at her mother and saw that her face was drenched with tears. Her mother lifted the veil and kissed her daughter on the cheek. The blonde man walked towards them and hugged her mom. The older woman leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek too before she sat down in the first row pew with the Wallace's. Mercedes looked over at her elders and smiled.

She finally allowed her eyes to fall on the handsome man who had his hand out and open for her. She saw him look down at her belly and he looked back up and beamed even wider. Her heart fluttered as she saw his eyes swell with pride. She put her small hand into his and they walked towards the priest together. Mercedes started to cry as she gazed at the man.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God to join together this Man and this Woman in holy Matrimony; which is an honourable estate, instituted of God in Paradise, and into which holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined," The priest said loudly.

She needed to think of a happy yet funny moment so that she wouldn't start hyperventilating as the priest spoke to her. She immediately thought of last year's thanksgiving.

_Mercedes, Dee and the Evans brothers stood at the door waiting for Mrs. Jones to open it. "Mom does know we're coming right?" Mercedes looked at Dee. The younger woman shrugged and then laughed._

"_Of course she does, it's Thanksgiving Merce. Just press the doorbell again." Mercedes pressed it again and the door flew open. All four adults jumped back at the sight of the older Jones woman. She had flour in her hair and on her face, an apron wrapped around her waist, and a spatula in her hand. She resembled a short crazy Madea._

"_Ya'll are early!" She frowned, "But good, that means that those two..." She pointed to Sam and Stevie, "can help me cook, because I know they would have offered anyways." She winked at the men who then nodded vigorously._

"_Yes of course," Stevie smiled._

"_In my mind, I'm already in the kitchen helping." Sam laughed. The older woman stepped back and let the group inside. Dee squealed when she heard music coming from the living room. She ran into the small space._

"_The Temptations! Oh my God you guy's this is my song!...I know you wanna leave me, but I refuse to let you go, if I have to beg, plead for your sympathy I don't mind cause you mean that much to me." She pulled one of the men to dance with her and he winked at the other brother, who in turn playfully rolled his eyes. _

"_Let that man go! They need to help me in the kitchen." Their mother walked back into the small kitchen and both blondes followed behind her. Dee danced her way to the bathroom, which left Mercedes standing by the closet. She pulled off her coat when Sam came out holding his and Stevie's leather jackets._

"_Mercy, can you hang these up for me please." She nodded and he handed her the two leather coats._

"_Sam...I need your bubble butt in here too you know." Sam laughed at her mother's choice of words and walked back into the kitchen. Mercedes turned to hang up the jackets when a small box fell out of one of the pockets. She picked it up and stared at it. She opened the box and covered her mouth so that she wouldn't gasp loudly. It was a diamond engagement ring. Mercedes knew it was for her because her sister already had a ring on her finger. She slowly closed the box and just stood there in shock._

"_Cedes!" Mercedes jumped and hid the box behind her back. Stevie gave her a weird look. "Are you okay?" She nodded._

"_Yea, I'm great." He raised his eyebrows._

"_Okay well your mom wants you to taste something." He rolled his eyes. "She said Sam and I won't know what seasonings to use because we probably only use salt." Mercedes laughed._

"_Yea...gimme a sec." He turned around and walked back into the kitchen. Mercedes heard the bathroom door open and quickly stuck the ring back in the pocket of its rightful owner. She wanted to tell her sister so badly, but she didn't want to ruin the surprise or jinx anything. She smiled to herself and thanked God for everything before she walked into the kitchen to help her mom._

Mercedes felt a gentle squeeze on her hand and looked up at the taller man and smiled. She didn't even remember answering the priest's questions, but she knew she had because now they were at the end.

"By the power vested in me by the State of Ohio, I now pronounce you husband and wife" The priest smiled at the two, "You may now kiss the bride." Her lips began to tremble as her husband's shaking hands lifted her veil. She looked at his white gold wedding band as his hands passed by her face. She was tempted to spin her own band because of the emotions that were overwhelming her. She looked at his face and saw that he was crying, but smiling at the same time. Mercedes reached her hands up and wiped his tears and he did the same for her. He bent down and whispered "I love you" against her lips as he kissed her. The guests broke out into applause.

"It is my privileged to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. And Mrs. Evans." The small group cheered louder as Mercedes smiled into the kiss. They broke apart and stared at each other. This was the man she wanted to marry, the man she had waited for all of her life. Mercedes couldn't help whispering back "I love you too," as she stared into her husband's sparkling green eyes.

Edit: Thank you guys for reading everything! I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I did writing it. So Mercedes made her choice and it was good ol Sam Evans. This is the LITERAL end of Mercy's Heart but I'm not done writing for it because there are so many things that need to be answered. Like when the hell did Stevie and Delores hook up? When did Mrs. Jones like Sam? When in the hell did Sam and his foster parents mend their relationship? So I'm going to be writing chapters to explain these things. The reason why I wrote the story this way was because I have managed to keep you guys guessing the entire time. Some people said Meevie was going to happen and others said Samcedes and I tried my damndest to even leave you more confused in the last chapter, because I wanted to make this chapter fun and a complete guessing game until the very last sentence.

Having said all that, I hope some of you will stay to read what happened in detail after Mercedes came back from her job. I know some of you will no longer read so I wish to say thank you for staying on this journey as long as you did. Again I know this was an unpopular approach and I may have shot myself in the leg, but I tried to stay true to my work and keep you on your toes the entire time. Thanks to my best friend Jona and thanks to my beta Drea.


	20. Hey guys

Hey guys, so for those who still want to read the continuation of this story it will be under my account on here. If you want to, you can subscribe for updates to Mercy's Heart 2.


End file.
